Which came first - the chicken or the deficit?

I usually bring my lunch to work, but there is a make-your-own-salad place I frequent on the 1-2 days per week I don't pack a sandwich. Basically, for $5.95, you get a choice of lettuce plus five vegetables or legumes tossed and dressed. For $2 more, you can add chicken or tuna, so the total cost is around $8.

Being a creature of habit, I order virtually the same thing every time - chicken, broccoli, cucumbers, bell peppers, corn, and carrots. When you order a protein, the employee making the salad is supposed to put a sticker on the lid so the cashier knows to charge the extra money. My work friends and I realized long ago that the young guys who make the salads often leave off the sticker - whether they're intentionally giving us a break or just being lazy, who knows, but I've learned to shut up and just put the gift salad in my mouth.

Every once in a while, the cashier will look at the stickerless lid and ask, "Protein?" I'll answer honestly and pay the extra money, but figure if they don't ask, then I don't tell. It's not my problem the employees don't follow protocol.

Except now, I think it is my problem.

Apparently the salad place raised their prices, because I got charged for protein today, and the cost was $9.50. And I had to wonder: Did the management finally crunch the numbers, and realize they were coming up short? Has my comped chicken caused them to cross the cost-efficient road? Are higher prices karmic payback for years of dish dishonesty?

Or is this just what people mean by "free range"?