I watch YouTube as much as I watch Hollywood-generated streaming content on Netflix, Prime Video, and others. Several years ago I stumbled across the YouTube channel Gas Station Encounters. They capture incidents of shoplifting on their in-store security cameras, often confront the suspects after leaving the store, and narrate it all in an especially amusing way.
This winning formula has yielded 1.98 million subscribers and over 400 million views at the time of this writing. Social Blade indicates that they pull in between $9,800 and $157,200 a year from YouTube. Something tells me the YouTube revenue covers the cost of the shoplifting losses at this point.
So on my post-holiday drive from Indiana to Connecticut, I set my GPS and made a stop at: Marathon Gas, 2855 Medina Rd, Medina, OH 44256.
After filling up on gas at the pump, I made a visit to the store. The timing wasn’t right for a delicious deli sandwich made fresh daily with a quarter pound of meat and three slices of cheese. Nor did I need their restroom with free toilet paper. If you watch the channel, you know what I’m talking about.
I did grab a Red Bull from the case near the door and a Little Debbie Double Decker Fudge Round. I even paid for them and got a receipt, which the cashier notated at my request, “Thanks for paying.” I also took a selfie with their YouTube Gold Play Button, which they got for 1 million subscribers.
Then I got back on the road to drive another 500 miles back to the East Coast. All in all, a pretty good day.
