Give me all the cash in the register! And three Black Jack Tacos! And some Fire sauce please!

The guy will be back next with his attorney to sue Taco Bell because they refused to give him an application - discrimination and all that. The earlier incident, he'll insist, was just a misunderstanding. He was on meds, he'll say.

This reminds me of that sketch in The Onion Movie where an armed gunman holds a bank up in order to get a job.

Call me crazy but... why not give it to him?? Then you have every bit of his information to give to the cops!

The man, whose description was sketchy

"I can't have police draw a picture of him, because I can't remember what he looks like," Tom said sketchily.

Maybe he just wanted to leave his references so they would know he really meant business...

@VioletPheonix: The manager was in the back so they didn't see or hear the holdup and the guy didn't point the gun at the manager so they didn't know he had one.

This one's easy. He was simultaneously job searching and protesting South Carolina's strict open-carry laws.

I like "Incorrect Procedure" but what happened to the you're doing it wrong tag?

I wanna know what this guy's thought process was. "I'll try to rob them but if I don't get anything I'll try honest work. Obviously a Taco Bell with no money in the drawer after the lunch rush is going to be hiring, right? Right?"

some people don't know how bad it's gotten with unemployment.

My boss and I posted a job on our website a little over a week ago. We have gotten 155 job applicants for a low level retail job paying maybe 10/hr.

Unfortunately only 50 passed our test and out of those 50 only less than a handful are willing to work for what we want to pay and hours we have.

it's quite sad.

I thought they meant his description was "sketchy," as you have to be kind of sketchy to rob a Taco Bell

Manager was stupid. Should have had him stay and fill it out, complete with address info!

@Rectilinear Propagation: I seriously doubt the manager didn't know that a holdup was taking place.

@usa_gatekeeper: Refusing to give someone an application isn't grounds for any type of discrimination. Simply "not hiring" is the only argument they would need to give.

It's only when a person becomes an applicant that the employer has to treat the applicant with non-discriminatory practices. And a person doesn't become an applicant until filling out an approved application.

Employment History? Well, I robbed a Burger King in 2006, and before that I was mostly knocking over Jack n' the Boxes. I first started in 2000 by stealing plastic dinnerware and condiments from McDonald's.

@zacox: Maybe it depends on the state, but I was under the impression that you MUST give a person an application if they ask for one, whether you are hiring or not.

Reminds me of this sketch from The Onion Movie. Life imitates art once again.

That's gotta take some balls. Someone with a gun asks you for a job application, and you tell them no, and tell them to leave.

@diasdiem:

Positions Held:

Spork Bandit
Soda Jerk
Ham-Burglar

the manager should have given him an application and marked it so it could be later identified and routed to the police.

In my previous job, it was frequently necessary for me to single-handedly keep control of crowds of people in highly stressful situations.

@lehrdude: Rubble Rubble.

@VioletPheonix: That's true he might have been dumb enough to fill it out. I remember watching one of those dumb criminal shows where some guy held up a liquor store and told he clerk to give a bottle of vodka from behind the counter. The clerk said he can't without seeing ID so the guy showed him his drivers license. After he left the clerk called cops and gave them his full name and address.

@bonzombiekitty:
I don't think so. Why would you give someone an application if you're not hiring?

@Jesse: Or the scene in the movie I'm Gonna Git You Sucka where the Black Panthers (not called that in the movie) go down to protest at a local government building, only to get cushy government jobs instead.

Probably not the first time this idiot was in Taco Bell ~ further proof that junk food rots your brain.

@tbax929 is rooting for a Phillies repeat: Yea I think that's more of a corporate or store by store policy vs. a statewide policy

@tbax929 is rooting for a Phillies repeat: A lot of places will go ahead and take an application and keep it on file for a while. Then if someone quits or gets fired, they can just go through the pool of applications on file to see if any of the qualified people still need jobs.

Then I guess unemployment isn't so bad if the people who you might hire don't want to work because they don't like the hours.

@AllanG54: Don't like the hours probably means not enough hours to be worth it. If it's going to take you an hour's worth of traffic to work 15 hours a week then you're practically working for free.

@Saboth:

Wait, isn't this the way everyone is applying for a gig now?

THAT'S why I can't get a job.

Well it worked in "Empire Records" why not in real life?

@valthun: Because in "Empire Records", Renee Zellweger looked hot in just an apron. In real life.....

@AllanG54: A $10/h job isn't enough to live off of alone, so you need to make sure the hours don't conflict with your other jobs(s)

@VioletPheonix: I'm crazy as well then because I was thinking the same thing. In fact I assumed that was going to be the story when I read the title.

Ooo but what if he ended up getting hired because no one realized it was the same guy? They couldn't get an accurate description from any of the witnesses.

@valthun:

You need that kind of crazy to work the Taco Bell graveyard shift.

@Skankingmike: I have heard that from other managers that because of the high turnout for jobs they use background checks and drug tests to get the numbers into something more manageable. Apparently with the background check and drug test they can get rid of 2/3rds of the applicants. My pops works for a street crew for the city and they had 117 applicants for a summer position and 95 failed the drug test.

Why didn't they let him fill out the application then give his personal info on it to the police?

Now here I was driving all over town and back again looking for a job.

Next time I'll just have to take my dad's .44 with me. THEN somebody'll hire me!

@Skankingmike: Even if you manage to find people that you can hire, I sincerely hope they work out. My store has hired 2 associates in the last 2 months and both have been fired for no call/no shows. We are very clear about pay rate and estimated hours when we advertise positions and interview, so it's not like they didn't know what they were getting into.

@zacox: Well then the manager lied to the police.

The manager didn't see the attempted holdup. The suspect did not point the gun at the manager, said Lt. Peter Murphy.

But then I have to ask: If the manager knew the guy just tried the rob the place why are they telling someone with a gun 'No'?

@bonzombiekitty: that was my understanding of florida law when i was in retail management at three different companies - you must accept the application for employment even if you have no intention to hire the person

The man then walked into the manager's office, which is located at the back of the store...The manager didn't see the attempted holdup. The suspect did not point the gun at the manager, said Lt. Peter Murphy.

"have you ever been convicted of a crime?"

"Not yet."

I've been to this taco bell.. The back parking lot is surrounded by what looks and sounds like a rain forest. I could have sworn I've heard monkey howling coming from over yonder while I enjoyed my crunch wrap supreme.

What is this, Empire Records?

Are we sure that this did not happen in Detroit?

I live next to a guy back in '93 who was just as stupid. I'll never forget his name either; Jamie. Actually he was a really nice guy and seemed smart. He weighed about 90 lbs, black, but looked like a musician and grew up in the South. We used to listen to blues and jazz when I got home late at night from my band gigs. Just hang on his porch and listen to music because he lived next to me. Well he worked at a Bob Evan's restaurant and he would cash his checked at a bank near where we lived. One day he decided that he wanted to rob that very same bank so he took a sawed-off shotgun and walked in. he called me one day from prison and I asked him what the fuck he did something so stupid. And he replied, "man, it was my gf's birthday and I wanted to buy her a car". No kidding, true story. Honestly you would never think that this guy would ever do something like this.