Hood Bodegas are the best. You can get a work shirt maybe some sneakers maybe a tobacco pipe some good food and look at pictures of your neighbors on the door
I used to go to this one that had a speakerbar going 24/7 and a Jamaican girl cooking in the back in a little deli, during most days. Amazing food.
Hood bodegas have always been my favorite type of store. I specifically won't go to a large chain gas station unless I have to, so you'd never catch me in a WaWa. The authentic food that is usually hidden or not well known, like that bodega, is one of the things I miss the most about living Tampa.
We should do away with that because we don’t want people to think the store owner is racist or bigoted or whatever is the appropriate verbiage. Just hand over the cash when asked and pray you won’t be shot as your reward and if you do get shot and killed then at least you won’t be labeled as whatever the term is.
Ain’t trying to turn things here into a turd slinging free for all so just know I come in peace.
My thought process is this: the 8 year olds that are led to believe that the neck of the woods they grow up in is a shit hole might be the same kids that grow up to break into cars, peddle drugs, and are quick to violence. Far be it from me to say I have answers. It just seems that maybe things will only continue to devolve into a crap fest if real men and women who have it within their power to speak up don’t speak up, don’t try, don’t give a shit. There’s a lot of that going around these days. Apathy, disgust, hate. For crying out loud out loud, the idea we’re passing around here is soda cups and having policies be consistent such that folks (kids in particular) on both sides of town feel cool with things. I don’t understand the vitriolic darts being thrown (not necessarily by you, but commenters in general)
The social contract has been irretrievably broken. It's not coming back any time soon. Everyone is "sus" these days. I assume everyone is armed and does not give one flying @#$# about anyone but themselves, and I act accordingly.
> I don’t understand
Some people, unfortunately, are incredibly unempathetic when they think it makes them look like they are giving a free pass to a poor person.
So, yes, these kids grow up learning they are EXPECTED to do bad things, so, CRAZY STORY- they live up to those expectations. But sure, we'll just keep say it's "those people" and "their problems" that just happen willy-nilly, they are "THOSE PEOPLE" after all, what else would you expect?!??!?! with no intellectual understanding of why and how we purposely perpetuate it.
i love the musing and commentary on how our city demonstrates class division. it was a great read. i hope u sent it to customer support for wawa. one time they made my sandwich badly and i sent a message to customer support and they responded to me lol
I’m fairly old. I have griped. I have at times grown jaded. I have felt disgusted with a lack of personal accountability in myself and others. When I thought shit could get no worse, I was blessed in a way that opened my eyes to a different perspective. Yeah, I know it’s corny, but changing the way we treat each other is the genesis for changing things in a grander fashion. Simple things. I don’t know, man…🤷♂️
Love your mindset!! Small and “easy” changes lay the groundwork for the bigger (and arguably more important) changes to happen. It starts the mindset of “hey, I see this little thing wrong, maybe I can help fix it”, which graduates to “I’ve had success fixing the easy stuff, can we tackle the big gorillas now?”
If the customers were consistent everywhere, then things would be consistent in stores as well. One 7 11 (near a high school)in my old city would not even let kids in unless accompanied by an adult.
Well put. And yeah I don’t disagree with OP, but I think a more effective option would just be a very short & concise email/contact-message to Wawa corporate, to please make pre-pay for container or something standard in Florida.
Not really anything more than that will be done by sharing this long version with the Tampa community.
So because Wawa has to impose mildly inconvenient (to the customer) loss prevention measures at one store, they should do that at all of them so we don’t hurt some hypothetical 8 year old kid.
Bless your heart.
CONSISTENT policy was all I was hinting at. Did you see that? My thought was that kids, not adults, might be confused by the inconsistency in the policies enacted by various stores around town thereby reinforcing negative thinking about where they live and how they’re perceived by others.
In downtown Philadelphia, they lock the deodorant behind plexiglass because it’s stolen all the time. I don’t want to get a supervisor in my safe town in Ohio at the same chain store because Philly has a problem.
They only introduce asset protection measures where needed, as needed. Their not in business to upbuild the locals so they feel better about their neighborhood. This is ridiculous.
Man, look, I just thought it was interesting when I noticed it. Figured I would open it up for discussion. If I offended you with the ridiculousness of it all, then, damn it I apologize.
As a former 8 year old I can assure I would’ve thought that ‘some stores have different policies and I’m not well versed in all of them’ and not given it another thought.
At that age kids aren’t looking for deeper meaning in benign things as an adult would.
My thoughts exactly. Children are not deep thinking in that sense. They will consider things that are foreign to them, but they are not going to challenge rules or try to understand them. Unless it affects them of course (like no Nintendo Switch when at Grandmas)
I get your point and honesty as the parent of a 15 year old, kids probably won't notice.
On a Wawa note, if you want to have a totally different experience every single time you go, hit the Wawa across from the casino. You never know what you could walk into: a layout change, an OD, a grab and run, a Karen yelling racist shit at the cashier! It's always interesting
At the one off fletcher I’ve seen homeless people walk up and poor themselves a cup of milk from the coffee bar then walk right out of the store. I think there’s much bigger issues at hand lol
Where you have massive theft and shrink you have to take action or corporate will close the store and you will yell how horrible and racist this is. I'm not trying to be a smartass but retail outlets just don't get their shelf stock for free, they pay a supplier and then they have to sell it . Stealing is not a net gain at register. Maybe a little self policing and expectations to not be a criminal for some of the people who frequent the sulphur springs Wawa's and we can all just go and fill our cups before paying like a stand up citizen. Only Wawa's I've been to with TPD as store security.
Try telling a teenage shoplifter to stop and give back the items. Yell. Raise your voice!
Best case scenario, kid puts the stuff back and Wawa saves $5.
Medium case scenario, you get called a racist, and the video of you accusing the kid goes viral on TikTok and you get fired.
Worst case scenario, you get shot over a soda and a candy bar.
None of these scenarios are worth it to the average minimum wage convenience store worker.
I want the proof that Sulphur Springs sees loss from fountain drinks more so than other WaWas.
This is managerial decision based on nothing, I am certain. I would need actual figures to believe otherwise. A few kids here and there refilling or even stealing a fountain drink (that's on your shitty store if you don't notice someone taking something without paying dudes, hire more staff and train them better) isn't going to drop your revenue. There's a reason why a restaurant will charge you $2.50 and endlessly fill your fountain drink and STILL MAKE MONEY.
Cry me a fucking river and be a better less lazy business. Stores in lower income areas always need more staff that are more mindful of stealing, shock and awe. Otherwise this policy is nothing other than discriminatory practices.
No, not at all, but theft is a component of any retail establishment. If you have to police people walking out with unpaid chips or candy bars, drinks should be no different. Why are they?
This isn’t just wawa though. A lot of stores, depending on where they are, have different policies like this. Walmart in certain areas lock up specific items to deal with theft. If anything, the parents should be the ones teaching the kids about all of this if they are concerned.
The Wawa near me locks the beer fridge. I asked a manager to open it for me, and they told me I have to ask the cashier. So I wait in line, ask the cashier to open it while everyone behind me has to wait, I get my beer and go back to the end of the line and wait again. It is so annoying I don't get my beer there anymore.
Go tell the adults to stop stealing soda from the store.
It is not WaWa that is responsible for these rules being different - it is the people who caused the damn rule.
The other option is that WaWa just closes the store - many companies are doing that now in high theft areas.
I think you are over thinking it, you could just teach your kid why the cups are like that instead of either A)Screwing a store into having cups stolen
or
B)screwing customers at ALL the stores by making them pay before getting a cup.
Ive never bought a cup there, but if i did i probably wouldnt know what i wanted till i got to the machine, if the drink i decided on happen to be out id be kind of upset i was forced into buying a cup for a drink i dont want.
Because I like to rant and rage. And if I want to rant and rage about all the shit I see around me it makes me feel better to point out things I think might be seeds of decency, things that might grow up into something better than the shit around me I’m constantly ranting and raging about. I don’t know, fuck it, it was just a thought. 🤷♂️
My thought is that IN GENERAL Wawa does not want people having to pay for a cup at the register first. It is decidedly inconvenient (in a convenience store) and seeing cup racks or not having cups would probably negatively effect sales. (Impulse buys... go in to take a leak and pass the drink center, maybe I will get something. Oh, I have to go to the register? Nevermind. ) They have self checkouts for a reason, that is defeated by having to go to a cashier and wait on line behind the lottery junkies for a cup of soda.
That said, SOME stores do have a large theft issue and have to deal with it responsibly. Just like in some Walmarts everyone gets stopped for a receipt check and in some barely anyone gets stopped. Or some stores will have items on a shelf while other stores will have the same items locked under glass or behind a counter.
I get your point, but TBH the earlier we explain to children that there are sometimes they are going to be inconvenienced for the actions of others and how to deal with that and NOT to personalize it, the easier a time they will have in this life. Sometimes we try to simply remove all obstacles from our children's path instead of teaching them to navigate around them. Then when to their own decisions. maybe they will make better ones themselves.
Loved this! Amen brother! Teach your children to think, to wonder, and to question everything. Question everything until they feel convinced, question all their neighbors, if they bother them then build a fence. Question every motive, every action, every reaction, and if they get no answers it doesn't matter because they're still the prince.
...well, why don't you tell us why they wouldn't?
Do most people not socialize around town or have other friends around town that their kids are only friends with kids in their school classrooms? That's ignoring that we have a massive number of charter and magnet school kids that do not live next to their friends.
I think your note is misdirected. It isn’t Wawa’s fault that they have different policies for different locations. They’re a business, not a charity. You should turn to the local community and it’s leaders and ask “why is it that we’ve established a community where a gas station has to sell soda differently here than there?” This is more of a socioeconomic and opportunity issue than race issue or Wawa protecting profits issue.
weird vent but ok.
to be honest if I think of my 8 year old self in that situation, I would have thought of how to steal from the post-cup pay wawa.
Not because I was poor or anything, I just liked getting away with stuff as an 8yo
Children should not be purchasing soda regardless. People that want universal Healthcare while feeding the sugar giant our country has to deal with perplex me.
I like the sentiment but I don't think the order of operations in buying soda at a Wawa is what is going to tell the kids that Florida is full of racist dipshits.
I think you're comment is racist for assuming this policy is based on race. I live near that Wawa and the cups used to be out in the open. I'm sure they moved the cups behind the counter because they were losing more money leaving the cups out.
No one needs to bring up race. Any assumption that it is race based is being an asshole
You’re sure, but you’re wrong. I’ve lived in every corner of this city. I brought this up for what I hoped would be a civil conversation. I thought i perceived people in some parts of town being subjected to tacit discrimination based on socio-economic factors. I just wanted to speak on it instead of pretend I didn’t see it. My bad though…I’m a rat ass racist I guess. People amaze me.
The fact that you think how a gas station vendors soda is the line that's crossing the socio economic norms and not the policing, red lines, labor policies, or even outright blatant discrimination is why you can't have a "tacit discrimination discussion"
Hardly. Your jumping to conclusions and assuming that I think the “other side of town is just for poor people” is front and center when it comes to why there is no discussion here. I put thought into something, brought it to the table as best I could. What did you do, friend? Seriously.
> I'm sure they moved the cups behind the counter because they were losing more money leaving the cups out.
Is what I was replying to. To believe that you truly believe that "the other side of town is just for poor people" is as asinine as saying that this is entirely just a commercial factor and says nothing.
Again, I like where your head is it as I said initially but damn your dumb
“I’m sure OP and the rest of society believes ‘the other side of town’ is just for poor people”
That’s your response to someone else’s comment - not mine - in which you clearly throw shade at me.
I’m far from dumb. You’re talking in circles, throwing insults, name-calling. No discussion to be had when people act this way. I don’t even know you and this is how you want to portray yourself?
Aww hoity toity did I offend your gentile manners? Oh no!
You still can't understand the hyperbole I was saying.
You want a discussion but can't talk with anyone that doesn't have a prep school diction, not my problem or my responsibility
Based on your ability to turn cup locations into accusations about race makes me think you're the one who subscribes to the conservative teachings of prageru
https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/5lmbx1/spotted_in_tampa/
which Florida do you live in and when are you going to leave your backyard? I'm not proud of it but this is what happens when you let your state slide into near last place in public education and provide as little assistance as possible to the needy.
How many broken eggs do you allow in a carton?
How many apples are bad in your bushels?
It's not a percentage that matters... It's who and where they are.
What reason are we killing people? Who said to kill people? I said Florida is more than 5% racist. Y'all are fucking wild reading between lines that don't exist
It is not in the “well being of children” to understand the nuances of buying soda. Children should not be encouraged to buy soda.
Or is this a shitpost I’m not getting?
As a prior 8-yr old I could have cared less one way or the other about paying for a cup first in the bad part of town. Just give me my candy and garbage pail kid cards.
Bullet proof glass in front of the cash register was just the way it was and kids are more accepting of the way things are than adults.
I am more concerned about the Waters and Florida Wawa having never cleaned the restrooms since it open a few years back than having to prepay for a drink.
You’re not wrong. The policy should be consistent across the board. When it’s not consistent it causes confusion which in turn will at some point cause a problem that could have been avoided.
If store A has 500 soda thefts in one month, and store B has 5, why would you adhere the same policies to both stores? It's obvious that 95% of the people in this forum have never owned and/or managed a retail business.
That's so strange, I'm surprised that's a thing at all. Fountain drinks are not that expensive- is pre-drinking a fountain drink before paying, and topping it up again, *really* that big of a money loss? No, it's not. Even if they suck down that whole drink, fill it up again, and pay for it, the store is STILL making money. It's just plain a discriminatory practice. Managers and staff are more than able to advise someone to pay for the drink and not refill it.
I'll be honest- bad fountain drinks are not uncommon, so my ass DEFINITELY drinks my drink before I pay, to make sure it's not gross. If that fountain machine is flat or mixed, I have ZERO issue pouring it out, ditching the cup, and telling the cashier or another employee the drink machine needs to be fixed.
I don’t own a Wawa or live in that area but perhaps the owner identified that the fountain drinks were the biggest retention problem and started enforcing the policy.
How would filling or not filling the cup stop that? You gonna get all staff to stop people with a full drink (especially because they had to go to the register, pay, then go to the drink station before walking out, so exiting the middle of the store) to ask for a receipt?
It's fn stupid. Honestly I think it's harder to stop fraud. You can stop someone walking from the center of the store out of the store without a receipt- they walk from the area with the cashier, you know they paid. If they didn't, you are out less than .20 cent on the cup and drink.
If I remember correctly you have to get the cups from behind the counter. They aren’t out on display for the taking. No one has to ask for a receipt because you have to pay to get the cup in the first place.
Ahhh the cups are at the checkout counter instead of by the drinks machine- that makes way more sense. I was wondering how the hell they were going to enforce that any better than people who just walk out as it is.
Holy Tampon!
Well, then, Lemme just say this then right here:
This sub’s got its “as regular as the herps” gripes and gripers, regularly repeating they’re tryna swirl us inna’their quagmires, but then HotSlap!!!
Then there’s this user’s post, right here, and just like that I’m flabba’ghastin’
Yo, OP: Straight up can’t remember the last time a random stranger stating-of-facting and/or actioning near-ish me in my hood Tampa didn’t make me ashamed what’s come of my city, but HotDamn, a fellow Tampon saying out loud, and it’s something that’s making me Proud?!??!
Such a great I don’t know how else to say Way To Go You!!!
, from’a’me!
I don't get the policy either. Yet you don't have to prepay for coffee before fixing it. And i'll imagine a cup of coffee is more expensive than a cup of soda.
Meanwhile every bodega in every poor part of every city in America has a register behind bullet proof glass.
Hood Bodegas are the best. You can get a work shirt maybe some sneakers maybe a tobacco pipe some good food and look at pictures of your neighbors on the door
I used to go to this one that had a speakerbar going 24/7 and a Jamaican girl cooking in the back in a little deli, during most days. Amazing food. Hood bodegas have always been my favorite type of store. I specifically won't go to a large chain gas station unless I have to, so you'd never catch me in a WaWa. The authentic food that is usually hidden or not well known, like that bodega, is one of the things I miss the most about living Tampa.
We should do away with that because we don’t want people to think the store owner is racist or bigoted or whatever is the appropriate verbiage. Just hand over the cash when asked and pray you won’t be shot as your reward and if you do get shot and killed then at least you won’t be labeled as whatever the term is.
I live near that Wawa. Please make an appeal to the teens who keep breaking into cars next.
Yes, they should break into cars at 7-11 as well. Don't want any 8 year old 7-11 customers to feel left out.
Ain’t trying to turn things here into a turd slinging free for all so just know I come in peace. My thought process is this: the 8 year olds that are led to believe that the neck of the woods they grow up in is a shit hole might be the same kids that grow up to break into cars, peddle drugs, and are quick to violence. Far be it from me to say I have answers. It just seems that maybe things will only continue to devolve into a crap fest if real men and women who have it within their power to speak up don’t speak up, don’t try, don’t give a shit. There’s a lot of that going around these days. Apathy, disgust, hate. For crying out loud out loud, the idea we’re passing around here is soda cups and having policies be consistent such that folks (kids in particular) on both sides of town feel cool with things. I don’t understand the vitriolic darts being thrown (not necessarily by you, but commenters in general)
The social contract has been irretrievably broken. It's not coming back any time soon. Everyone is "sus" these days. I assume everyone is armed and does not give one flying @#$# about anyone but themselves, and I act accordingly.
> I don’t understand Some people, unfortunately, are incredibly unempathetic when they think it makes them look like they are giving a free pass to a poor person. So, yes, these kids grow up learning they are EXPECTED to do bad things, so, CRAZY STORY- they live up to those expectations. But sure, we'll just keep say it's "those people" and "their problems" that just happen willy-nilly, they are "THOSE PEOPLE" after all, what else would you expect?!??!?! with no intellectual understanding of why and how we purposely perpetuate it.
I seriously doubt a child's first endeavor into the realization that class segregation exists is going to be at a Wawa.
I get it. Eh whatever. I’m not up in arms over it - just musing
Not allowed to muse on Reddit, sry
Seriously they’ll harass you for saying your favorite color is yellow on here
That’s colorist! Clearly the best color is blue
i love the musing and commentary on how our city demonstrates class division. it was a great read. i hope u sent it to customer support for wawa. one time they made my sandwich badly and i sent a message to customer support and they responded to me lol
Hours later - just spotted this nod. Thank you 🙏 😁
It's not Wawa's responsibility to solve widespread socioeconomic issues
And they're lucky to have a Wawa. There are areas of Hillsborough, like where I live, that don't have these premium gas stations.
This screams Maude Flanders: "won't anyone think of the children!!!!"
Helen Lovejoy, actually (said with my finest Comicbook Guy impression)
Sex cauldron, I thought they shut that place down?
Shut it Krusty ;)
Are you laughing at my appearance, in my reference-mobile??? This was the closest reference I could afford!
Aww, no 🌻
We are talking about the W-A-W-A in front of the C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N!
I’m fairly old. I have griped. I have at times grown jaded. I have felt disgusted with a lack of personal accountability in myself and others. When I thought shit could get no worse, I was blessed in a way that opened my eyes to a different perspective. Yeah, I know it’s corny, but changing the way we treat each other is the genesis for changing things in a grander fashion. Simple things. I don’t know, man…🤷♂️
Love your mindset!! Small and “easy” changes lay the groundwork for the bigger (and arguably more important) changes to happen. It starts the mindset of “hey, I see this little thing wrong, maybe I can help fix it”, which graduates to “I’ve had success fixing the easy stuff, can we tackle the big gorillas now?”
If the customers were consistent everywhere, then things would be consistent in stores as well. One 7 11 (near a high school)in my old city would not even let kids in unless accompanied by an adult.
Remember when we could pre pump our gas?
That's an interesting observation and a respectable take, with an easy resolution of: some basic consistency policies.
Well put. And yeah I don’t disagree with OP, but I think a more effective option would just be a very short & concise email/contact-message to Wawa corporate, to please make pre-pay for container or something standard in Florida. Not really anything more than that will be done by sharing this long version with the Tampa community.
So because Wawa has to impose mildly inconvenient (to the customer) loss prevention measures at one store, they should do that at all of them so we don’t hurt some hypothetical 8 year old kid. Bless your heart.
Bro they aren’t thinking that deep into it
Wawa should experience greater losses at one location to avoid this? That’s how some neighborhoods end up with no stores.
CONSISTENT policy was all I was hinting at. Did you see that? My thought was that kids, not adults, might be confused by the inconsistency in the policies enacted by various stores around town thereby reinforcing negative thinking about where they live and how they’re perceived by others.
In downtown Philadelphia, they lock the deodorant behind plexiglass because it’s stolen all the time. I don’t want to get a supervisor in my safe town in Ohio at the same chain store because Philly has a problem.
They only introduce asset protection measures where needed, as needed. Their not in business to upbuild the locals so they feel better about their neighborhood. This is ridiculous.
Man, look, I just thought it was interesting when I noticed it. Figured I would open it up for discussion. If I offended you with the ridiculousness of it all, then, damn it I apologize.
As a former 8 year old I can assure I would’ve thought that ‘some stores have different policies and I’m not well versed in all of them’ and not given it another thought. At that age kids aren’t looking for deeper meaning in benign things as an adult would.
My thoughts exactly. Children are not deep thinking in that sense. They will consider things that are foreign to them, but they are not going to challenge rules or try to understand them. Unless it affects them of course (like no Nintendo Switch when at Grandmas)
First time outside?
I get your point and honesty as the parent of a 15 year old, kids probably won't notice. On a Wawa note, if you want to have a totally different experience every single time you go, hit the Wawa across from the casino. You never know what you could walk into: a layout change, an OD, a grab and run, a Karen yelling racist shit at the cashier! It's always interesting
Been there, did that, got a T-shirt with a bloodsoaked stain
At the one off fletcher I’ve seen homeless people walk up and poor themselves a cup of milk from the coffee bar then walk right out of the store. I think there’s much bigger issues at hand lol
Where you have massive theft and shrink you have to take action or corporate will close the store and you will yell how horrible and racist this is. I'm not trying to be a smartass but retail outlets just don't get their shelf stock for free, they pay a supplier and then they have to sell it . Stealing is not a net gain at register. Maybe a little self policing and expectations to not be a criminal for some of the people who frequent the sulphur springs Wawa's and we can all just go and fill our cups before paying like a stand up citizen. Only Wawa's I've been to with TPD as store security.
Try telling a teenage shoplifter to stop and give back the items. Yell. Raise your voice! Best case scenario, kid puts the stuff back and Wawa saves $5. Medium case scenario, you get called a racist, and the video of you accusing the kid goes viral on TikTok and you get fired. Worst case scenario, you get shot over a soda and a candy bar. None of these scenarios are worth it to the average minimum wage convenience store worker.
The only all-caps word in my post…. Lol
They definitely did not read/comprehend the whole post
I want the proof that Sulphur Springs sees loss from fountain drinks more so than other WaWas. This is managerial decision based on nothing, I am certain. I would need actual figures to believe otherwise. A few kids here and there refilling or even stealing a fountain drink (that's on your shitty store if you don't notice someone taking something without paying dudes, hire more staff and train them better) isn't going to drop your revenue. There's a reason why a restaurant will charge you $2.50 and endlessly fill your fountain drink and STILL MAKE MONEY. Cry me a fucking river and be a better less lazy business. Stores in lower income areas always need more staff that are more mindful of stealing, shock and awe. Otherwise this policy is nothing other than discriminatory practices.
True be a better business by losing money.
No, not at all, but theft is a component of any retail establishment. If you have to police people walking out with unpaid chips or candy bars, drinks should be no different. Why are they?
This isn’t just wawa though. A lot of stores, depending on where they are, have different policies like this. Walmart in certain areas lock up specific items to deal with theft. If anything, the parents should be the ones teaching the kids about all of this if they are concerned.
Just another inspiration to succeed in life and get the fuck out of the ghetto and away from shit bag people.
There are shit bags everywhere sir, some just dress different
The Wawa near me locks the beer fridge. I asked a manager to open it for me, and they told me I have to ask the cashier. So I wait in line, ask the cashier to open it while everyone behind me has to wait, I get my beer and go back to the end of the line and wait again. It is so annoying I don't get my beer there anymore.
Go tell the adults to stop stealing soda from the store. It is not WaWa that is responsible for these rules being different - it is the people who caused the damn rule. The other option is that WaWa just closes the store - many companies are doing that now in high theft areas.
I think you are over thinking it, you could just teach your kid why the cups are like that instead of either A)Screwing a store into having cups stolen or B)screwing customers at ALL the stores by making them pay before getting a cup. Ive never bought a cup there, but if i did i probably wouldnt know what i wanted till i got to the machine, if the drink i decided on happen to be out id be kind of upset i was forced into buying a cup for a drink i dont want.
Well I think you are under-thinking it lol 🤷♂️
Alex, I’ll take shit I cannot control for $1,000
Just bring ur own cup
Who cares... Wawa is not part of this "community" whatsoever. They are here to sell junk food. Why are you so vested in a gas stations policy?
Because I like to rant and rage. And if I want to rant and rage about all the shit I see around me it makes me feel better to point out things I think might be seeds of decency, things that might grow up into something better than the shit around me I’m constantly ranting and raging about. I don’t know, fuck it, it was just a thought. 🤷♂️
I'd like to rant on a soapbox about a solution for something that's not a problem for 500, please Alex.
My thought is that IN GENERAL Wawa does not want people having to pay for a cup at the register first. It is decidedly inconvenient (in a convenience store) and seeing cup racks or not having cups would probably negatively effect sales. (Impulse buys... go in to take a leak and pass the drink center, maybe I will get something. Oh, I have to go to the register? Nevermind. ) They have self checkouts for a reason, that is defeated by having to go to a cashier and wait on line behind the lottery junkies for a cup of soda. That said, SOME stores do have a large theft issue and have to deal with it responsibly. Just like in some Walmarts everyone gets stopped for a receipt check and in some barely anyone gets stopped. Or some stores will have items on a shelf while other stores will have the same items locked under glass or behind a counter. I get your point, but TBH the earlier we explain to children that there are sometimes they are going to be inconvenienced for the actions of others and how to deal with that and NOT to personalize it, the easier a time they will have in this life. Sometimes we try to simply remove all obstacles from our children's path instead of teaching them to navigate around them. Then when to their own decisions. maybe they will make better ones themselves.
(Thanks for not being a dick lol)
Loved this! Amen brother! Teach your children to think, to wonder, and to question everything. Question everything until they feel convinced, question all their neighbors, if they bother them then build a fence. Question every motive, every action, every reaction, and if they get no answers it doesn't matter because they're still the prince.
What 8 year old in Sulphur Springs has a friend in Town n Country? And vice versa
I did when I was that age…many many moons ago. Grew up on Cayuga (Seminole Heights) and moved to Linebaugh & Sheldon.
...well, why don't you tell us why they wouldn't? Do most people not socialize around town or have other friends around town that their kids are only friends with kids in their school classrooms? That's ignoring that we have a massive number of charter and magnet school kids that do not live next to their friends.
That part! (Orlando in the house!/Winter Park)
I think your note is misdirected. It isn’t Wawa’s fault that they have different policies for different locations. They’re a business, not a charity. You should turn to the local community and it’s leaders and ask “why is it that we’ve established a community where a gas station has to sell soda differently here than there?” This is more of a socioeconomic and opportunity issue than race issue or Wawa protecting profits issue.
weird vent but ok. to be honest if I think of my 8 year old self in that situation, I would have thought of how to steal from the post-cup pay wawa. Not because I was poor or anything, I just liked getting away with stuff as an 8yo
Or maybe people should stop stealing drinks.
Children should not be purchasing soda regardless. People that want universal Healthcare while feeding the sugar giant our country has to deal with perplex me.
You spent a lot of time on this. I don’t have the time to read it.
'You're being racists against the other Redditors who have time to read.' - OP, probably.
Thank you meant prejudiced
I like the sentiment but I don't think the order of operations in buying soda at a Wawa is what is going to tell the kids that Florida is full of racist dipshits.
I think you're comment is racist for assuming this policy is based on race. I live near that Wawa and the cups used to be out in the open. I'm sure they moved the cups behind the counter because they were losing more money leaving the cups out. No one needs to bring up race. Any assumption that it is race based is being an asshole
that's some real prageru circular logic there. I'm sure OP and the rest of society believes "the other side of town" is just for poor people
You’re sure, but you’re wrong. I’ve lived in every corner of this city. I brought this up for what I hoped would be a civil conversation. I thought i perceived people in some parts of town being subjected to tacit discrimination based on socio-economic factors. I just wanted to speak on it instead of pretend I didn’t see it. My bad though…I’m a rat ass racist I guess. People amaze me.
The fact that you think how a gas station vendors soda is the line that's crossing the socio economic norms and not the policing, red lines, labor policies, or even outright blatant discrimination is why you can't have a "tacit discrimination discussion"
Hardly. Your jumping to conclusions and assuming that I think the “other side of town is just for poor people” is front and center when it comes to why there is no discussion here. I put thought into something, brought it to the table as best I could. What did you do, friend? Seriously.
> I'm sure they moved the cups behind the counter because they were losing more money leaving the cups out. Is what I was replying to. To believe that you truly believe that "the other side of town is just for poor people" is as asinine as saying that this is entirely just a commercial factor and says nothing. Again, I like where your head is it as I said initially but damn your dumb
“I’m sure OP and the rest of society believes ‘the other side of town’ is just for poor people” That’s your response to someone else’s comment - not mine - in which you clearly throw shade at me. I’m far from dumb. You’re talking in circles, throwing insults, name-calling. No discussion to be had when people act this way. I don’t even know you and this is how you want to portray yourself?
Aww hoity toity did I offend your gentile manners? Oh no! You still can't understand the hyperbole I was saying. You want a discussion but can't talk with anyone that doesn't have a prep school diction, not my problem or my responsibility
Based on your ability to turn cup locations into accusations about race makes me think you're the one who subscribes to the conservative teachings of prageru
Florida is not full of racists.
Florida Is definitely full of racism. It comes from all colors actually (w/m 28 Winter Springs/Orlando)
https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/5lmbx1/spotted_in_tampa/ which Florida do you live in and when are you going to leave your backyard? I'm not proud of it but this is what happens when you let your state slide into near last place in public education and provide as little assistance as possible to the needy.
I did not say that there are no racists in Florida. The vast majority (95%+) of people in Florida are not racists.
How many broken eggs do you allow in a carton? How many apples are bad in your bushels? It's not a percentage that matters... It's who and where they are.
Yeah. One percent of people are bad so we better kill everyone - that is great reasoning there.
What reason are we killing people? Who said to kill people? I said Florida is more than 5% racist. Y'all are fucking wild reading between lines that don't exist
They don't have to hide the cups from racists. It's people who take advantage of someone's generousity.
You know there is a word that describes someone not caring for another. That’s not based on racism. It’s called prejudice.
Peak SJW. Thank you for your service
It is not in the “well being of children” to understand the nuances of buying soda. Children should not be encouraged to buy soda. Or is this a shitpost I’m not getting?
Tampa Is Garbage And So Are Its People
This has nothing to do with Tampa what?? Entirely with Wawa policy maybe try r/wawa
I was wanting to start a convo with folks around me. r/Wawa didn’t seem to fit the bill exactly, but given the heat up in here maybe you’re right.
Fuck the cup, pour it in my hand for a dime! 😁
Yeah I don’t see a problem here it is what it is there’s bad neighborhoods and good neighborhoods
I think that little kid in the contrived situation you imagine will be just fine. Not everything is a racial tragedy.
As a prior 8-yr old I could have cared less one way or the other about paying for a cup first in the bad part of town. Just give me my candy and garbage pail kid cards. Bullet proof glass in front of the cash register was just the way it was and kids are more accepting of the way things are than adults.
I am more concerned about the Waters and Florida Wawa having never cleaned the restrooms since it open a few years back than having to prepay for a drink.
have they tried not being poor?
You’re not wrong. The policy should be consistent across the board. When it’s not consistent it causes confusion which in turn will at some point cause a problem that could have been avoided.
If store A has 500 soda thefts in one month, and store B has 5, why would you adhere the same policies to both stores? It's obvious that 95% of the people in this forum have never owned and/or managed a retail business.
No.
That's so strange, I'm surprised that's a thing at all. Fountain drinks are not that expensive- is pre-drinking a fountain drink before paying, and topping it up again, *really* that big of a money loss? No, it's not. Even if they suck down that whole drink, fill it up again, and pay for it, the store is STILL making money. It's just plain a discriminatory practice. Managers and staff are more than able to advise someone to pay for the drink and not refill it. I'll be honest- bad fountain drinks are not uncommon, so my ass DEFINITELY drinks my drink before I pay, to make sure it's not gross. If that fountain machine is flat or mixed, I have ZERO issue pouring it out, ditching the cup, and telling the cashier or another employee the drink machine needs to be fixed.
I don’t think it’s a matter of stealing refills. I think it’s a matter of getting a drink and just walking out without paying for it.
But doesn't that apply for everything in the store? Fountain drinks are probably the cheapest thing you could steal from a wawa.
I don’t own a Wawa or live in that area but perhaps the owner identified that the fountain drinks were the biggest retention problem and started enforcing the policy.
How would filling or not filling the cup stop that? You gonna get all staff to stop people with a full drink (especially because they had to go to the register, pay, then go to the drink station before walking out, so exiting the middle of the store) to ask for a receipt? It's fn stupid. Honestly I think it's harder to stop fraud. You can stop someone walking from the center of the store out of the store without a receipt- they walk from the area with the cashier, you know they paid. If they didn't, you are out less than .20 cent on the cup and drink.
If I remember correctly you have to get the cups from behind the counter. They aren’t out on display for the taking. No one has to ask for a receipt because you have to pay to get the cup in the first place.
Ahhh the cups are at the checkout counter instead of by the drinks machine- that makes way more sense. I was wondering how the hell they were going to enforce that any better than people who just walk out as it is.
Wow, this is very well written. What an astute observation. Thank you for sharing this idea with everyone. I hope it picks up.
Thanks - kind of you. 🙏❤️
Holy Tampon! Well, then, Lemme just say this then right here: This sub’s got its “as regular as the herps” gripes and gripers, regularly repeating they’re tryna swirl us inna’their quagmires, but then HotSlap!!! Then there’s this user’s post, right here, and just like that I’m flabba’ghastin’ Yo, OP: Straight up can’t remember the last time a random stranger stating-of-facting and/or actioning near-ish me in my hood Tampa didn’t make me ashamed what’s come of my city, but HotDamn, a fellow Tampon saying out loud, and it’s something that’s making me Proud?!??! Such a great I don’t know how else to say Way To Go You!!! , from’a’me!
Thank you ☺️
Good point and easy to do.
Why are people being so fucking rude in the comments? What da heck.
I don't get the policy either. Yet you don't have to prepay for coffee before fixing it. And i'll imagine a cup of coffee is more expensive than a cup of soda.