Two Thefts And A Death

Last Saturday, Jayesh Prajapati was working at a Toronto gas station.

Someone put $112 of fuel into their car and tried to rush off without paying.  Jayesh tried to stop him, got hit by the car, and died.  The driver has been identified and the police are looking for him.

I saw an article this morning saying that Mr. Prajapati was “standing up for what is right.” 

While I’m not disputing that, there may be another aspect he was concerned about:  Unless things have changed in the decade since I worked as a gas attendant (and I don’t see why they would have), that $112 would have been deducted from Mr. Prajapatis paycheque.

The math based on the minimum-wage salary that most attendants make :  $10.25/hr x 8 hours = $82.  Deduct 30% for taxes and fees, and he would have made almost $55.  He would have lost more than 2 days’ pay to cover what this jerk stole.

I don’t know anyone, at any salary range, who would stand by silently while 20% of his weekly pay was stolen.  I certainly wouldn’t.  It’s awful that he lost his life, and I hope the thief’s charges are upgraded to murder (he killed someone while committing another crime) and that he pays appropriately.

Another crime, which probably played a part in this tragedy, is that the fuel companies force these losses onto the employees.  I hope things have changed since 2000, but it’s doubtful.  It's not right.  It's not legal.  But it's the way things (don't) work.

On a similar note, customers at Wife’s restaurant did a dine-and-dash a week ago.  Similar to the fuel companies, restaurants usually force these thefts onto the wait staff. 

Wife lost a lot of money that Saturday night because these assholes didn’t pay for their meal.  They rushed off before she could catch on to what was happening.  I don’t know how much money they stole from my wife, but it was crushing to see her work so hard for absolutely nothing.  And if she ever recognizes the thief I will personally catch him, beat the crap out of him, and empty his wallet to reimburse her.  Call me aggressive, but I’m standing up for my family.  NOBODY steals from my family if I can do anything about it.

And people sometimes wonder why I have such a low opinion of society…