College classes started last week, and the boxes my wife keeps returnable cans In was full, so, since she needed a couple of birthday cards an other miscellaneous stuff, we threw them in the back seat of the truck and headed to Walmart. There were a couple of down and out individuals with shopping carts full of returnable, and a couple of what appeared to be college kids wearing fraternity shirts with multiple bags waiting for the machines to be fixed (rebooted).
Fortunately someone had just given up waiting so we grabbed that machine, and the reboot was completed about a minute later.
We did our cans, then went to the service desk to collect our cash and redeem the cans the machines couldn’t recognize.
Next step was to gather our shopping goods, do the self serve checkout,mand get out of dodge.
The frat boys were about 2/3 done when we passed the machines on our way to the parking lot.
Al of those cans may have been legitimately from the frat house, although I had visions of them being like Kramer on the Michigan can episode of Seinfeld.
Separetely, my employer had a strict fireable offense policy with no second chance for anyone caught going through the gate with scrap picked from the dumpster. Too many people tossing tools and parts, then retrieving them.
It was hard to see the valve grinder, and other useful materials get crushed, but I understand. It also avoids the appearance of favoritism if the materials are given or sold to employees. We did auction off vehicles, but most won’t understand how much manpower that takes, to say nothing of loss of productivity. In later years, we just sold them to dealers. If 80 employees spend a half hour each, that’s what, several thousand dollars of lost productivity.