LJ Idol Home Game (Food Memory) The Tootsie Roll Caper
When I look back on my first real job, I remember it fondly. I worked at a small town grocery store called William’s IGA. There was only one produce guy, one meat guy, and then a bunch of teenagers that made up the floor/cashier/bagging crew. The benefit or the downfall of working in this small town store was that everyone that walked into this place knew who you were. They would badger you with hundreds of questions about what you were doing with your life. I had just started going to community college when I started this job, so naturally the parents of all of my former classmates were asking me questions (and then turning around and telling their snobby little child how horrible I was doing behind my back).
This job was a collection of first experiences for me. It was my first time working with a cash register, first time bagging someone’s groceries, first time facing canned goods, first time mopping and buffing the floors, and the first time cleaning a soda machine. It was also the first time that I had ever been accused of stealing. Despite the fact that every customer that walked into this store knew who I was, my managers didn’t know who I was. It is kind of an interesting feeling when the customers know more about your moral code than your own managers do.
The day that I was accused by my managers of this crime, it was like any other day. I was the back up cashier for the day, which meant that I spent most of my time on the floor. Somewhere in the middle of my shift, I was called into the back room by the guy that hired me and the head manager. I was all smiles that day, as I didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. I thought maybe they were going to praise me on a job well done. It was amazing on how naïve I was back then.
After both of them gave me very disappointed sighs, the guy that hired me told me that they caught me stealing, and if I had anything to say in my defense. I could feel my eyes nearly popping out of their sockets when I was accused of this. My exact words were, “Uh, yeah. I didn’t do it.” The guy that hired me repeated what I said, and shook his head. That is when the head manager jumped in and told me that he had proof from the cameras that I did steal from them.
I knew, without a doubt in my mind, that I didn’t steal from these people. I know now I probably should have asked to see the proof, but instead I asked them what I stole while I sobbed in front of them (I think I was hurt that I was being accused of something I didn’t do). They told me that I stole a small, yellow (lemon flavored) Tootsie Roll. They then proceeded to tell me that if I was that hungry, that they could have helped me out if I had just asked them instead of stealing from them.
I’m pretty sure my brain imploded after learning this information. If I was going to steal anything, it wouldn’t have been one of those nasty lemon Tootsie Rolls. What kind of lame thief would steal a Tootsie Roll? The fact that they offered to help me out if I was that hungry was laughable too. I lived with my parents in a huge two story house where I was given everything I was ever wanted (including a walk in pantry with the shelves stocked to the ceiling with food). I couldn’t help but wonder if this was some sort of test. Were they really accusing me if stealing something so insignificant? Yes, yes they were. They were going to fire me over it.
After my brain implosion, I asked them when this all took place. They gave me the date, and I actually laughed through my tears. I remembered the day perfectly. I was working on the floor that day, in the dairy aisle. We were stocking the shelves, and I needed a knife to open the boxes. They were selling small knives as impulse items at the register, so I told the cashier that I was going to borrow one to open a few boxes, stuck my hand in the jar, and pulled out a small (tiny enough that my palm could conceal it) yellow knife . Once I was done with the boxes, I returned the knife back to the jar.
My managers seemed pretty convinced that this was a huge misunderstanding at that point, but I think my tears worked wonders with it as well. I managed to keep my job up until the day that it went out of business.
This job was a collection of first experiences for me. It was my first time working with a cash register, first time bagging someone’s groceries, first time facing canned goods, first time mopping and buffing the floors, and the first time cleaning a soda machine. It was also the first time that I had ever been accused of stealing. Despite the fact that every customer that walked into this store knew who I was, my managers didn’t know who I was. It is kind of an interesting feeling when the customers know more about your moral code than your own managers do.
The day that I was accused by my managers of this crime, it was like any other day. I was the back up cashier for the day, which meant that I spent most of my time on the floor. Somewhere in the middle of my shift, I was called into the back room by the guy that hired me and the head manager. I was all smiles that day, as I didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. I thought maybe they were going to praise me on a job well done. It was amazing on how naïve I was back then.
After both of them gave me very disappointed sighs, the guy that hired me told me that they caught me stealing, and if I had anything to say in my defense. I could feel my eyes nearly popping out of their sockets when I was accused of this. My exact words were, “Uh, yeah. I didn’t do it.” The guy that hired me repeated what I said, and shook his head. That is when the head manager jumped in and told me that he had proof from the cameras that I did steal from them.
I knew, without a doubt in my mind, that I didn’t steal from these people. I know now I probably should have asked to see the proof, but instead I asked them what I stole while I sobbed in front of them (I think I was hurt that I was being accused of something I didn’t do). They told me that I stole a small, yellow (lemon flavored) Tootsie Roll. They then proceeded to tell me that if I was that hungry, that they could have helped me out if I had just asked them instead of stealing from them.
I’m pretty sure my brain imploded after learning this information. If I was going to steal anything, it wouldn’t have been one of those nasty lemon Tootsie Rolls. What kind of lame thief would steal a Tootsie Roll? The fact that they offered to help me out if I was that hungry was laughable too. I lived with my parents in a huge two story house where I was given everything I was ever wanted (including a walk in pantry with the shelves stocked to the ceiling with food). I couldn’t help but wonder if this was some sort of test. Were they really accusing me if stealing something so insignificant? Yes, yes they were. They were going to fire me over it.
After my brain implosion, I asked them when this all took place. They gave me the date, and I actually laughed through my tears. I remembered the day perfectly. I was working on the floor that day, in the dairy aisle. We were stocking the shelves, and I needed a knife to open the boxes. They were selling small knives as impulse items at the register, so I told the cashier that I was going to borrow one to open a few boxes, stuck my hand in the jar, and pulled out a small (tiny enough that my palm could conceal it) yellow knife . Once I was done with the boxes, I returned the knife back to the jar.
My managers seemed pretty convinced that this was a huge misunderstanding at that point, but I think my tears worked wonders with it as well. I managed to keep my job up until the day that it went out of business.