WALBRIDGE — Lake Township Fire Chief Todd Walters and two firefighters/paramedics have resigned amid a township police investigation into intravenous-fluid bags of saline being taken from a department fire hall to treat an intoxicated off-duty police officer.
After reading this story, I wasn’t the slightest bit surprised by the outcome. Sure, helping a brother out with a couple bags of saline is pretty low on the severity scale, but it doesn’t change the fact that they stole from their employer. What did surprise me is all the comments from people that were blown away by the fact that these guys lost their jobs.
When I was 15 years old, I had an after-school job working at McDonalds. When I got hired, they made it very clear that stealing at any level was a terminal offense. If we so much as consumed a single french fry without permission, we would be fired on the spot. Well, one of my buddies was spotted eating a pickle slice and they help up their end of the deal.
Getting fired for eating a pickle may sound about as ridiculous as getting fired over taking a $10 saline bag, but the perceived severity of the incident is irrelevant. If you get caught taking something that doesn’t belong to you, you’re going to lose your job.
I’m not trying to judge anyone here because my hands aren’t exactly clean. I have done my fair share of questionable behavior since I started in this career. I’m just trying to point out the obvious.
About Sean Eddy
