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Not sure if this qualifies as a ‘sighting’ or not. I heard this one on the radio today – one of those shows where you call in with questions for the deejay or his/her guest.
The caller (whom I shall hereafter refer to as Grit) told this tale of his own uck-fuppedness.
Grit stopped for gas, went inside, prepaid for $10 worth, then bebopped back out to his car, started the pump, and then got back into his car to play with his cell phone. Grit, therefore, didn’t notice when the pump failed to stop at $10 – and before Grit knew it, the pump had clicked off $55 worth of gas.
Grit then proceeded to tell himself ‘Meh, not MY problem the pump didn’t stop, therefore I’m not responsible for the overage’, shrugged his shoulders, and proceeded to drive off without sparing it a second thought…. Until the police came a’bangin’ on his door.
Now he blames his current legal troubles on the gas station and its employees.
Unfortunately for him, the police disagreed, and now he’s got a court appearance in his immediate future.
I have a few issues with his story.
1. Grit paid for $10. At the current gas prices (about $3.40 a gallon), that’s scarcely three gallons of gas, which a gas pump can crank out in less than a minute. According to him, he spent that minute in his car, playing with his cell phone. Seems a little odd to say to yourself, “Oh, this will take almost SIXTY SECONDS! I have to find something to do in the meantime…..”
2. Grit was the one operating the pump, and that means it was HIS responsibility to make sure the thing dispensed the correct amount. It might be a different story in the old ‘full service’ days and it was the attendant, not the customer, who screwed up. But that’s not the case here.
3. Regardless of how it happened, Grit ended up with substantially more than he’d paid for. The correct (and responsible) action would have to been to notify the clerks inside and make some sort of arrangements to correct the problem. Instead, he just dove back into his car and vanished. Apparently Grit is unfamiliar with the existence (and widespread use) of surveillance cameras.
4. I think we all know how Grit would have behaved if the pump had shut off at $9.85 or some other less-than-ten-dollar amount. He’d have been in the clerk’s face about it, and with a quickness. Yet, it was perfectly fine, in his mind, to simply shrug his shoulders and drive away with $45 more gas than he’d paid for.
Oh, how I’d love to the judge that Grit has to appear in front of. I’d put the fear o’ God in him, an’ that’s a FACT. As it is, there’s a very real chance that Grit’s gonna have to ride the bus for a while, because in this state, one of the penalties of gas theft is…. Yup, forfeiture of your license. In addition to this, the judge can impose fines, jail time, and/or community service. ‘Cause, you know, it’s THEFT.
There’s an old saying that goes something like, “Integrity is not how you behave when somebody is watching. It’s how you behave when NOBODY is watching.” Guess Grit’s demonstrated his values, huh?
The caller (whom I shall hereafter refer to as Grit) told this tale of his own uck-fuppedness.
Grit stopped for gas, went inside, prepaid for $10 worth, then bebopped back out to his car, started the pump, and then got back into his car to play with his cell phone. Grit, therefore, didn’t notice when the pump failed to stop at $10 – and before Grit knew it, the pump had clicked off $55 worth of gas.
Grit then proceeded to tell himself ‘Meh, not MY problem the pump didn’t stop, therefore I’m not responsible for the overage’, shrugged his shoulders, and proceeded to drive off without sparing it a second thought…. Until the police came a’bangin’ on his door.
Now he blames his current legal troubles on the gas station and its employees.
Unfortunately for him, the police disagreed, and now he’s got a court appearance in his immediate future.
I have a few issues with his story.
1. Grit paid for $10. At the current gas prices (about $3.40 a gallon), that’s scarcely three gallons of gas, which a gas pump can crank out in less than a minute. According to him, he spent that minute in his car, playing with his cell phone. Seems a little odd to say to yourself, “Oh, this will take almost SIXTY SECONDS! I have to find something to do in the meantime…..”
2. Grit was the one operating the pump, and that means it was HIS responsibility to make sure the thing dispensed the correct amount. It might be a different story in the old ‘full service’ days and it was the attendant, not the customer, who screwed up. But that’s not the case here.
3. Regardless of how it happened, Grit ended up with substantially more than he’d paid for. The correct (and responsible) action would have to been to notify the clerks inside and make some sort of arrangements to correct the problem. Instead, he just dove back into his car and vanished. Apparently Grit is unfamiliar with the existence (and widespread use) of surveillance cameras.
4. I think we all know how Grit would have behaved if the pump had shut off at $9.85 or some other less-than-ten-dollar amount. He’d have been in the clerk’s face about it, and with a quickness. Yet, it was perfectly fine, in his mind, to simply shrug his shoulders and drive away with $45 more gas than he’d paid for.
Oh, how I’d love to the judge that Grit has to appear in front of. I’d put the fear o’ God in him, an’ that’s a FACT. As it is, there’s a very real chance that Grit’s gonna have to ride the bus for a while, because in this state, one of the penalties of gas theft is…. Yup, forfeiture of your license. In addition to this, the judge can impose fines, jail time, and/or community service. ‘Cause, you know, it’s THEFT.
There’s an old saying that goes something like, “Integrity is not how you behave when somebody is watching. It’s how you behave when NOBODY is watching.” Guess Grit’s demonstrated his values, huh?
He is my Black Dragon (and yes, a good one) strong, protective, the guardian. I am his Silver Dragon, always by his side, shining for him, cherishing him.
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