Sometimes children break things when they don’t get their way, and life goes on. When adults break stuff, many times, the police get involved.
According to Sebastian Daily, a 22-year-old Palm Bay, Florida-based Wendy’s restaurant worker was reportedly so distraught that he couldn’t clock out of work earlier than his scheduled clock-out time that he apparently felt the need to break thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment.
And if he thought his day was terrible for whatever reason he wanted to get out of work early, his life became significantly worse now that the cops are involved.
“Wendy’s worker breaks equipment when told he couldn’t go home early in Palm Bay, Florida,” the Sebastian Daily Twitter account wrote.
Wendy’s worker breaks equipment when told he couldn’t go home early in Palm Bay, Florida #palmbay #florida #palmfl #wendys #restaurants #fastfood https://t.co/sm95gN3W2S
— Sebastian Daily (@sebastian_daily) January 13, 2023
Trending:
Palm Bay police responded to the restaurant at the manager’s request after they reported employee Carlos Morales for causing the disturbance and breaking numerous pieces of electronic equipment in the process.
An affidavit revealed that Morales had a spat with his supervisor because he wasn’t allowed to leave work early. It’s not clear why he wanted to leave work so badly, but his actions as a result of the dispute were far from warranted.
Morales first “began dumping liquids on computer equipment and smashing the computer screen” before ultimately destroying an expensive computer terminal that acted as a server for all other terminals in the restaurant. It’s valued at roughly $8,000.
Would you have let Morales go home early?
Yes: 14% (2 Votes)
No: 86% (12 Votes)
“He then threw the computer into the kitchen area, breaking it into pieces,” Palm Bay police said.
Police said video footage of Morales’ outburst confirmed his destructive actions. Shortly after police responded to the restaurant, Morales, who had gotten his wish to leave early, albeit under different circumstances, was visited by Palm Bay police officers.
The responding officers said Morales admitted that he had argued with his supervisor about the early clock-out situation, and then he admitted to breaking the computer equipment.
Because of the high value of the equipment that Morales damaged at his former place of employment, he now faces a giant legal mess that will undoubtedly cause him to experience many regrets, or at least it should.
That type of behavior certainly isn’t exclusive to younger generations. Still, it seems like it’s most often seen among today’s youth, and there are so many reasons why work ethic has taken a plunge compared to where it was just a decade or more ago.
Whether Morales wanted to go home early to play video games with his friends, which is not out of the realm of possibility, or whether he was angry because he had a family emergency he wasn’t able to attend to, any young adult should know by that age that smashing equipment and being destructive isn’t the answer.
Those important lessons are learned throughout childhood in the home, church, and even school.
Sure, in a post-pandemic world where workers are bizarrely still in short supply, employees have more leverage than they’ve had in a long time. But that doesn’t mean they get to break things when they don’t get their way, the same as an angry toddler would.
Because of his actions, Morales now faces a felony-level criminal mischief charge. Given a $2,000 bond, he was taken to Brevard County Jail for processing, where he’ll have plenty of time to reflect on his poor choices.
