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Roslindale gas station held up at gunpoint
By adamg on Sat, 12/24/2022 - 10:52pm
The Alfa gas station, 4139 Washington St. in Roslindale, was held up at gunpoint shortly after 10:30 p.m.
The suspect described as Black man, 5'8" and 220-240 lbs., wearing a flowered pink-and-green puffy jacket with faded blue jeans, possibly ripped in the front, an orange hat, a black hoodie under his jacket and a black mask and pink, white and black sneakers.
He displayed a semiautomatic handgun.
In April, two men were shot at the station, one fatally.
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Comments
Harsh cost of business
I don’t mean to detract from the horror of having a gun pointed at you, and on Christmas Eve of all times. And I wish for a long jail sentence for the perp. But I also wish businesses, especially gas stations, would reconsider the “discount for cash” policy that leads to them having a large stash of tempting $20s at a time like that. Sure, you have to pay a fee every time a customer taps their card and you don’t like that. But it’s obvious that hardly anybody wants to use cash anymore, and by encouraging people to do so, you are creating a much steeper cost to your workers and your business than you might think.
Coin of the Realm
While cards do provide a lot of convenience we need to frame this as it is. Credit cards are a private enterprise and we pay that middle man for the convenience. We pay them a fee just to have the card and they charge the merchant a fee as well for the transaction so in some ways we are paying a fee... almost like a tax... every time that we spend money. Cash doesn't have that problem.
That noted, a lot of people favor the elimination of cash in transactions solely due to the convenience and modern immediate nature available. However, we need to remember that credit card companies are a private enterprise... a private business. So eliminating currency places our monetary system in the hands of private business, which could then control far more than that.
US Currency is "legal tender" meaning used for legal transactions of currency for merchandise or services. In Massachusetts it is also illegal to refuse cash. Yes, there are a lot of places doing that and the legality is in question and it may be a short period of time before many are caught and fined and challenged in court.
Yes, The Garden does it. Yes, some retailers do it. However the legality has yet to be challenged in court. Yes, there were emergency provisions during the height of the pandemic but that exception is over.
Recently there was a long thread on another popular message service (Reddit) about this very topic and the resounding response was that cash is legal and no one should be refusing it in this state, per the law. Quite a few people recently confronted by this.
It is agreed that this places some business at risk, but that risk has existed since money was invented.
This is also not the first time alfa has been hit. I admire their courage.
Don’t eliminate cash, but don’t encourage it
I’m not saying we should go all-cashless, although a lot of people are enjoying that practice now. But why reward unnecessary use of cash when the price is making your business and your employees such a target for violent robberies?
You’re missing a point
Encouraging cards is against their bottom line.
I got my car inspected there once. I was low on cash, so I asked to use credit. They dinged me a few bucks to cover the fees they are charged.
Hatoffs in JP has never taken cards, and they have the lowest gas prices in the area. They also don’t seem to get robbed.
Long live cash!
Don't use American Express
As a business owner I appreciate the convenience of credit cards, but if you want to support businesses don't use American Express. The fee they charge the business accepting the credit card is much higher than other standard credit cards.
Second hold up for them recently :(
They got held up last month too.
https://mobile.twitter.com/StacoS/status/1596312075240099840