Dinner and a Show; Fast Food Workers Dealing with Increasing Violence

CRIME COMMENTARY | Disgruntled customers take their grub serious enough to sometimes get violent. We really must admit it, those fast food jobs are tougher than they look. On the ABC News Blog from Yahoo! News, an Albany, Georgia man is being sought by police for allegedly throwing a makeshift Molotov Cocktail at a Taco Bell over the amount of beef on his order of two XXL Taco Bell chalupas.

According to the report, the as-yet-unidentified alleged fire-bomber called manager Cynthia Thompson and demanded more meat for his order, which she was unable to do since they were closing soon. He was quoted as saying "That's alright. I'll just come and redecorate the place." Later, she smelled gasoline and discovered a gasoline-fueled fire outside of the drive-through window. If the caller is the same individual who threw the Molotov Cocktail, he chose to risk another human life over a nibble or two of beef on his order.

He's not the only idiot, though. One 30-year-old Jeremy Combs of Lee's Summit, Missouri is charged with pointing a shotgun at a Taco Bell employee over missing hot sauce on his food. Combs allegedly returned back to the Taco Bell, handed the clerk his order and then brandished the shotgun at the employee. According to the report, he appeared intoxicated.

During questioning, Combs initially tried denying having ever left his home. Then his story changed to his bringing a tire iron. It was surveillance video which is the most damaging to his defense, showing clearly it was a shotgun he carried. In all of his brilliance, Combs also admitted to buying the shotgun from a drug house. He's facing both state and federal charges, including being a felon in possession of a firearm. Public Defenders probably have nightmares about catching clients like this one.

Keep your hands to yourself - Last October 14th, a video went viral on YouTube of a McDonald's employee beating two customers with a metal rod. If readers are prepared for the language and the violence, they can clearly see on this version one of the customers slapped the employee first over what the cashier believed to be a questionable $50 bill, then she and a companion hopped over the counter and pursued him after he slapped her back.

Commentary abounds about his having a prior criminal record. But what was the customer doing slapping him in the first place? A disagreement over money could have been easily solved by having management step in, but they're nowhere to be seen.

While the majority of viewers agree he did go quite a bit over-the-top in his reaction, he's also clearly trying to leave the area while the two customers are pursuing him. It's just this author's opinion, but if he has to go to jail, these two customers should too for starting the problem. Chivalry be damned. Nobody deserves to be slapped by a customer.