Eat now, pay later

In situations here, such as laundry and eating, stores will prefer that you pay after they have provided the service. I am more than okay with this philosophy because it means I get to enjoy my expenditure before even paying for it, or even thinking about grabbing my wallet. However, sometimes I forget to pay for things because I'm so used to paying at the beginning! Today, for instance, I ate delicious pad see ew moo with Liza from a woman downstairs in our apartment complex. It was delicious, and we walked away afterward eem maak (very full). After a couple minutes I remembered that we hadn't paid, so we ran back to pay the 25 baht as necessary. Of course, she was very Thai in her mai ben rai (it's nothing) attitude, but what if Liza and I had completely forgotten? Do people forget often? Perhaps Thais have just been programmed differently so they always remember to pay after a meal. I've even forgotten to pay for a Thai tea once, but I went back a few hours later to pay. Keeluum farang (forgetful foreigner).