Thieves triumph and corporate overlords shaft the hard-working. If anything this cashier's story of robbery at gunpoint lends credence to common cynicism. The saga continues and the real bad guys' occupation should come as no surprise. From violent thugs to white collar jerk-offs, scum comes in all shapes and sizes.

As described in the May 5 article, a North Dallas convenience store was recently knocked off with yours truly serving up corporate cash. I was alone, holding down third shift on my sixth night of work since hire. In a rather lucrative lick, the robbers got $348 for their trouble. Undeniably, the security of that cash was my responsibility. However, demonstrating proper security procedures to a new employee working the high risk shift is the duty of management.

I was scheduled to work the night after the robbery. My boss told me to stay home due to an ongoing corporate investigation into the incident. Before long, I was told by phone when to pick up my first and only paycheck from this douchebag company. Like any company isn't a douchebag.

There are three registers in the store; the robbers ravaged them all. The contents of the two registers left unused overnight and counted and left by second shift every evening, should have been dropped. The extraneous small bills in my register should have been dropped, leaving less than $50 in the drawer. I learn all this well after the robbery. Once the store's first robbery took place, the boss magically became gung-ho about practicing textbook cash handling procedures. I was fired by corporate for giving the thieves a successful night. To be fair, my boss claimed he contested the firing and I'm halfway inclined to believe him.

I have to wonder if I put my former coworkers at risk. Surely, that score introduced yet another hook into the robbers' mouths.

The fact is that I promptly dropped an estimated $1,700 well before the masked men showed up. My transition from training on day shift to working alone on deep nights was rather swift. This training focused on efficiently handling deliveries and making coffee. Quite literally, the only security threat my boss prepared me for was ruthless gangs of scrawny ass suburban teenagers shoplifting beer. The stories I heard about those hooligans were simply chilling.

Obviously, corporate wanted a sacrificial lamb; for a Satanic ritual of course. This wouldn't be the first time I've assumed that position. I learned as much as I could and worked my narrow white ass off--which is typically a mistake in my experience. Those who care are not rewarded; they are exploited.

The stories of millions who get shafted by corporate America just for hitting the time clock go unrecognized. Cashier Angelica Gomez posted her story on the website Find Law for the Public. According to Gomez, she was fired for failing to display the desired level of fear and submissiveness to her shop's owner. In a decision that I would attribute to her fondness of dignity, Gomez refused to pick up a pen that the owner had dropped on the floor. The owner then spoke to the manager, returned to Gomez, and informed her that she no longer had a job. An attorney posting advice on the website saw no potential for a wrongful termination suit.

A California fast-food cashier was fired for having a register shortage of $30, according to a post on Wrongful Termination Blog. He made an angry phone call to an attorney connected to the blog describing the situation. Of course, the cashier had no right to sue, the attorney wrote. A shortage of $30 is not quite indicative of theft on the cashier's part and surely there were security cameras. Shortages happen to the best of us. I was once fired for a $50 shortage; courtesy of a short change artist.

A successful cashier with four years of company service to her credit claims she was fired for being pushed too far. Her entry on Find Law for the Public mentioned "small" problems with the work environment that simply added up. A dispute mushroomed, drawing from her a tearful emotional outburst. I've just about been there myself. She was fired. Company loyalty is a misguided blunder at best.

"You may well have been unjustly terminated, but that does not mean you have rights under any theory of law to sue the employer or to contest the termination," attorney Anthony Lourdes de Grasse wrote in response to her story.

Common American workers need more than a minimum wage increase insisted upon by congressional Democrats for the sake of displaying some glimmer of populist appeal. We need rights and actual representation. As we all know, our arcane legal system is by and for wealth and power. A worker's only right is a lunch break, which I've been denied in the past. In reality, our elected officials will remain comfortably tucked in the top brass' breast pockets and nobody who matters will ever give a damn.

Perhaps risking a bullet in the face is part of a night cashier's job, just like the builders of the Empire State Building risked a plunge to death. Getting fired for accepting that risk and giving the boss your best effort is not what an honest worker should expect. The moral of the story? When dealing with human trash, one should expect to get burned. To a "cynic," getting screwed also means being vindicated.

The robbers will keep hitting convenience stores, corporations will always violate their workers and I'll find another $7 job that incites liquor cravings. Our supreme freak show known as the service industry carries on as the rest of civilization swaggers by for gasoline and lottery tickets. The bottom of the food chain is sustenance for the rich and insatiable. Robbers will blow your head off, but corporate will eat your children.

Unemployment benefits are a joke. Some Coors sure would hit the spot ... a blue mask would flatter my eyes.