Sam the tollbooth guy, age 77, was terminated from his job after 30 years of work... because he undercharged a trucker the fare, and made up the difference out of his pocket. WTH?

Vladislav 'Sam' Samsonov of Boca Grande was terminated from his job working at a Florida tollbooth after his superiors asked him to take a reduced role when they found out he paid a driver's $5 toll out of his own pocket.

Vladislav 'Sam' Samsonov of Boca Grande declined the offer by the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority to scale back his days to two instead of five and was terminated from his position.

Samsonov had been working at the Boca Grande Causeway for 29 years and it was not the first time he had used his own money if a driver didn't have enough cash or if there had been a mistake.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3166904/Tollbooth-worker-Vladislav-Samsonov-fired-30-years-paying-driver-s-5-toll.html?ito=social-facebook

He was a fixture in the community and news of his dismissal generated backlash on social media.

People who remembered him giving their dogs bones or their children lollipops spoke out on Samsonov's behalf and a friend printed out a page of all the nice Facebook comments he received.

The editor of the Boca Beacon, Marcy Shortuse, even wrote a tribute to the 'Gasparilla Island fixture' in a special Editor's Note.

You represent part of what so many like about Boca Grande – a person can be gone for years, but once they cross that bridge they’re back in the land of familiar faces. It’s people like you that we took for granted would always be there in the booth on weekday mornings.

We will adjust, we will adapt, but we will never forget you, Sam. Thank you for your service to our community. You’re a good guy. Stop by and see us once in awhile.

Marcy Shortuse, Boca Beacon editor

http://bocabeacon.com/news/featurednews/editors-note-we-will-miss-you-sam/