I stole so much food when I was a store manager at Subway

I couldn’t afford to eat, but my managers let me take all the leftover sandwiches at the end of the night. I lived on those sandwiches plus ramen noodles for years. I was so grateful to have food.<br><br>Edit: I was a store *manager*, not a regular employee. I worked crazy hours, including all day Sundays. I was paid $9.60 an hour. My rent was $800 a month and I had to pay utilities and all the rest. I could barely afford to eat. The owners of the store didn’t care that I was struggling to survive. They cared about getting rich, but I was literally barely able to survive.<br><br>Edit 2: I was a store manager, not a general manager. I had a general manager over me. I was never paid a commission or a bonus from the store profits. My general managers did, but they also made more than me. I was paid hourly and took home about $1,200 - $1,300 a month. I had to buy everything on my own. I didn’t get any kind of insurance benefits. I wasn’t allowed sick leave. It was hard. I barely had anything. But I was grateful for the leftover sandwiches because they kept me from starving.<br><br>Edit 3: Yes, I lived in the United States. I was paid peanuts regardless of the fact that I worked hard. I did my best to keep the store running smoothly. I acted in favor of the company instead of my own self interest because I didn’t want to get fired even though it was hard and hardly paid anything. I did everything they asked me to do. I worked through holidays. I worked every weekend. I worked long hours. <br><br>I didn’t steal because I was lazy. I stole because I was starving and didn’t have any other options. I didn’t steal from the till. I didn’t steal food because I wanted it. I didn’t steal food because I was greedy. I stole food because I was so in need that it was either steal or starve. <br><br>Subway was supposed to be a job that would help me get out of poverty, but it did nothing but keep me in poverty. I was better off robbing people at gunpoint than I was working at Subway. I was better off stealing cars. I was better off selling crack. Subway made me feel like I was worthless. <br><br>When I stole food, I was emergencies taking emergency measures to save my own skin. I did exactly what Subway did: I took what I needed to survive. You blame me for being poor? Fuck off. You blame me for being desperate? Kiss my ass. You’re rich, spoiled, and judgy as hell. I’d rather be the kind of thief who steals food than someone who judges the poor for being poor.