Honest customers operate unstaffed all-night store in Tel Aviv
After solo staff member is forced to leave premises unexpectedly, clients take charge of cash register and pay for items
Customers at an all-night grocery store in Tel Aviv put on a laudable show of honesty when, after finding the store abandoned by staff, they took over running the cash register to pay for items that were purchased.
“It was just an amazing sight,” owner Shiko Altid told Ynet in a report last week.
The incident started on a Friday night — one of the busiest times for the store, which is located at 161 Even Gvirol St. — when the lone staff member present became unwell and abruptly left the store without notifying the owners.
Customers who sauntered in found the store, and the register, unattended. However, rather than help themselves, they helped each other — to operate the register and pay for everything they took. Many of those who came in were apparently regulars, though they struggled to work out how to use the credit card payment system or ring up prices on the register, Eltid said.
Eltid only found out what was going on when one customer alerted security, who contacted him to say there had been no staff in the store for an hour. The astounded owner quickly logged in to access cameras and saw the customers taking care of things themselves.
Eltid said that he had been on army reserve duty for several months amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
“I was elated,” he said. “When I saw our regular customers tallying up prices for each other, I couldn’t believe it.”
Eltid said that when he later checked the stock and the amount customers paid, he found it all added up and nothing was stolen.
In a show of appreciation, he hung up a sign in the store asking those involved to come in and identify themselves. Eltid said he was able to track down the customer who alerted the security company and gave him a NIS 300 ($80) credit note, but he has not managed to be in contact with any others, and none has come forward.
