Fired for giving a 16-cent treat to toddler?

[pokerfan]

Nicole Lilliman, 27, was http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/422864">fired yesterday from her Tim Hortons job for giving one of the 16-cent blobs of fried dough to a tot. :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

[auntAgonist]

1. Yup! but fortunately for her she was hired by another Tim's

Overzealous manager I guess. :shrug: I'm glad she was hired by the other store.

:)

[MrScorpio]

2. Her former boss was an ass, pure and simple

She got hired right away at another store and the company declared the whole thing an "overreaction".

Proof that bosses can suck.

[LibertyLover]

3. Good grief!

I remember going into the butcher shop with my mom as a kid and the butcher giving me a slice of bologna. Same with the bakery - they always gave a small cookie to the kids. I can see firing this woman if she had given the mother of the fussy kid a whole bag of timbits for free, but what she did, especially for a regular customer, is a way to garner customer good will, ensure that said customer will spend money, will return to spend more money and possibly even recommend your establishment to friends and relatives, earning you even more money. I'd say it was very short sighted on the part of management. On edit - Glad to hear that she was hired by another store and her former manager's actions termed an overreaction. Yeah, that's one word for it.

[pokerfan]

4. I immediately flashed on that scene from The Grapes of Wrath

INSIDE THE HAMBURGER STAND, a standard cheap eatery, Bert is doing the short orders and Mae is handling the counter. A nickel phonograph is playing a tune. Bill, a truck driver, sits at the counter; his partner, Fred, is playing a slot machine.

BILL: Kinda pie y'got?

MAE: Banana cream, pineapple cream, chocolate cream--and apple.

BILL: Cut me off a hunk a that banana cream, and a cuppa java.

FRED: Make it two.

MAE: Two it is.

(Smirking) Seen any new etchin's lately, Bill?

BILL: (grinning) Well, here's one ain't bad. Little kid comes in late to school. Teacher says--

He stops. Pa is peering in the screen door. Beside him Ruthie and Winfield have their noses flattened against the screen.

Mae looks at Pa.

MAE: Yeah?

PA: Could you see your way clear to sell us a loaf of bread, ma'am.

MAE: This ain't a groc'ry store. We got bread to make san'widges with.

PA: I know, ma'am... on'y it's for a ole lady, no teeth, gotta sof'n it with water so she can chew it, an' she's hongry.

MAE: Whyn't you buy a san'wich? We got nice san'widges.

PA: (embarrassed) I shore would like to do that, ma'am, but the fack is, we ain't got but a dime for it. It's all figgered out, I mean--for the trip.

MAE: You can't get no loaf a bread for a dime. We only got fifteen-cent loafs.

BERT: (an angry whisper) Give 'em the bread.

MAE: We'll run out 'fore the bread truck comes.

BERT: Awright then, run out!

Mae shrugs at the truck drivers, to indicate what she's up against, while Bert mashes his hamburgers savagely with the spatula.

MAE: Come in.

Pa and the two children come in as Mae opens a drawer and pulls out a long waxpaper-covered loaf of bread. The children have been drawn to the candy showcase and are staring in at the goodies.

MAE: This here's a fifteen-cent loaf.

PA: Would you--could you see your way to cuttin' off ten cents worth?

BERT: (a clinched teeth order) Give 'im the loaf!

PA: No, sir, we wanta buy ten cents worth, thas all.

MAE: (sighing) You can have this for ten cents.

PA: I don't wanta rob you, ma'am.

MAE: (with resignation) Go ahead--Bert says take it.

Taking out his pouch, Pa digs into it, feels around with his fingers for a dime, as he apologizes.

PA: May soun' funny to be so tight, but we got a thousan' miles to go, an' we don't know if we'll make it.

But when he puts the dime down on the counter he has a penny with it. He is about to drop this back in the pouch when his eyes fall on the children staring at the candy. Slowly he moves down to see what they are looking at. Then:

PA: Is them penny candy, ma'am?

The children look up with a gasp, their big eyes on Mae as she moves down behind the counter.

MAE: Which ones?

PA: There, them stripy ones.

Mae looks from the candy to the children. They have stopped breathing, their eyes on the candy.

MAE: Oh, them? Well, no--them's *two* for a penny.

PA: Well, give me two then, ma'am.

He places the penny carefully on the counter and Mae holds the sticks of candy out to the children. They look up at Pa.

PA: (beaming) Sure, take 'em, take 'em!

Rigid with embarrassment, they accept the candy, looking neither at it nor at each other. Pa picks up the loaf of bread and they scramble for the door. At the door Pa turns back.

PA: Thank you, ma'am.

The door slams. Bill turns back from staring after them.

BILL: Them wasn't two-for-a-cent candy.

MAE: (belligerently) What's it to you?

BILL: Them was nickel apiece candy.

[Coyote_Bandit]

5. Here Comes that Rainbow Again

"The scene was a small roadside cafe,
The waitress was sweeping the floor.
Two truck drivers drinking their coffee.
And two Okie kids by the door.
"How much are them candies?" they asked her.
"How much have you got?" she replied.
"We've only a penny between us."
"Them's two for a penny," she lied.

And the daylight grew heavy with thunder,
With the smell of the rain on the wind.
Ain't it just like a human.
Here comes that rainbow again.

One truck driver called to the waitress,
After the kids went outside.
"Them candies ain't two for a penny."
"So what's it to you?" she replied.
In silence they finished their coffee,
And got up and nodded goodbye.
She called: "Hey, you left too much money!"
"So what's it to you?" they replied.

And the daylight was heavy with thunder,
With the smell of the rain on the wind.
Ain't it just like a human.
Here comes that rainbow again."

The Kris Kristofferson retelling of the scene.....

[Deja Q]

6. *bingo*

Our sense of community really has gone down the toilet. :(

[lightningandsnow]

7. That is incredibly depressing.

:wtf:

[jmowreader]

8. On Tim Horton's website...

"In regards to the recent situation with the termination of a staff member in London, Ontario;

"Unfortunately the action of the manager of this location was not appropriate nor grounds for dismissal. With an apology from management Ms. Lilliman has been rehired by the franchisee.

"We sincerely apologize to our customers for this unfortunate incident."

[HEyHEY]

9. Also, I saw this before - a few days before she stood up to her boss on behalf of other employees

So, that's the real reason