David Barron has an interesting article about the Astros' Fan Appreciation Day. On Fan Appreciation Day, the IRS appreciates you!
[Bob] Choate, 56, of Houston last fall won a year's supply of coupons from Shipley's Do-Nuts as one of the lucky prize-winners during Astros Fan Appreciation Day at Minute Maid Park.
"I went up to the customer service window, fat, dumb and happy, and signed a form and picked up a fistful of certificates, each good for a free doughnut or a dozen doughnut holes and one free cup of coffee," he said.
But last month, much like the Grim Reaper, the punch line to his prize landed in Choate's mailbox: an Internal Revenue Service Form 1099, informing him that he owed taxes on $927.61 in "free" coffee and doughnuts.
"Right," Choate said. "Fan Appreciation Day. We appreciate you, oh, and by the way …"
Tip-top work, Astros.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
