When Jitendra “Jay” Singh, owner of a 7-Eleven
store in Toledo, Ohio, spotted a young thief stuffing
his pockets with snacks recently, his first reaction
was to instruct an employee to call 911.
But when he confronted the young man and
asked him to empty his pockets, he felt compassion
when the man said he had just wanted to feed
himself and his younger brother.
Asking the employee to hang up the 911 call,
Singh instead gave the man a package of more
substantial food, including
chicken drumsticks, sausage
rolls, and a whole pizza. Singh’s act of kindness
went viral after a customer who witnessed
the scene shared it on Facebook.
“He’s a young kid,” Singh told CBS Evening News.
“That will go on his record that he was a thief. He
cannot do anything in his life. He will not get a
good job. This will not solve his hunger problem.”
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
[Comments? Contributions? We would love to hear from you about Chai Time. If you have contributions, please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]