Coca Cola Thief

I worked at a Texaco gas station while in college in 1969.  The station stayed open 24 hours a day even though we didn’t pump much gas after dark.  The owners parked and secured five work trucks for a local delivery company, so they needed 24-hour surveillance.  We were busy pumping gas for the after-work crowd, but around nine pm things slowed down.  David and I left at eleven pm and the night shift man took over.  But he wasn’t very diligent.  Let me explain.  We sold snacks inside and had an old-style Coca Cola machine outside.  One evening the night shift worker fell asleep, and the Coke machine was hit.  Someone (probably a kid) popped open each lid of the all of the bottles in the machine.  They could only get a few sips from each bottle but wasted the entire contents to get their sips.  When the day shift came in, ten bottles were empty and the sidewalk was a sticky mess.  If someone is hungry and in need, just tell me.  I’ll use my own money to help them.  But don’t steal and be wasteful.  That is so uncalled for!  Solomon said in Proverbs 6:30, “Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry.”  Granny Whitely used to say, “It’s no shame to be poor, it’s just inconvenient.”  But this thief was wasteful.  Too bad that the night shift man fell asleep.  If he had been watching, the thief might have been deterred.  But that’s another lesson.