Fined $10,000 for Water at Daughter's Restaurant, I Severed Ties

I washed dishes at my daughter's restaurant for five years. Up before dawn, working late every night, never a single day off, never a single dollar in wages.

Then one day, parched from the rush, I grabbed a bottle of water off the shelf and drank it.

My son-in-law saw, and handed me a fine on the spot.

"Mom, we have a rule here. Staff aren't allowed to take store goods for themselves. You just drank a bottle of water, so that's a ten-thousand-dollar fine. Cash or transfer?"

I stared at him, unable to believe it.