Antelope Valley Press

GoFundMe is the answer

The editorial, “Paying for a mistake with other people’s money” (AVP, 06/18/22), drew my interest. We know that John Szczecina, the manager of a Shell station, mistakenly set the price of gas at $0.69 per gallon, rather than $6.99. An unknown number of drivers bought the cheap gas before the error was corrected. Although John accepted responsibility, and will repay the estimated $16,000 loss, he was terminated.

John must now find a new job. News reports did not provide his annual salary, or the value of his assets. We don’t know whether he owns or rents his home, or the type of vehicle he drives, or whether he is supporting a spouse and minor children.

For all we know, John may be struggling like millions of others who are being forced to make sacrifices to pay for their basic needs.

The Editor opined: “We’re not so sure that a GoFundMe page was the best way to do that because it’s not him paying the money back, himself, but rather, he’s using other people’s money to pay for his mistake.”

It is presumed that John did not have $16,000 readily available.

Rising interest rates ruled out applying for a personal loan, or taking a credit card cash advance.

Requesting donations to his GoFundMe page was the most expeditious means for John to raise funds to repay the station owner, despite having no legal obligation to do so.

Scott Evans Los Angeles

OPINION

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2022-06-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://avpress.pressreader.com/article/281655373754082

Alberta Newspaper Group