--- title: Internet Rallies Behind Fired Toll Booth Worker description: The employee had worked at the toll for 29 years canonical: https://time.com/3964224/toll-booth-worker-fired/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-20T12:53:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:22:18.645Z og:title: Internet Rallies Behind Fired Toll Booth Worker og:description: The employee had worked at the toll for 29 years og:url: https://time.com/3964224/toll-booth-worker-fired/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e98e2d2790f9a51/69885b8bcd1bba3af46fc56a/toll-booth.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Toll Plaza at Bay Bridge at night og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Internet Rallies Behind Fired Toll Booth Worker twitter:description: The employee had worked at the toll for 29 years twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e98e2d2790f9a51/69885b8bcd1bba3af46fc56a/toll-booth.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Internet Rallies Behind Fired Toll Booth Worker > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6d4f6db0-cd84-4b73-91c3-797f8f34ad67&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 20, 2015 12:53 PM UTC  Toll Plaza at Bay Bridge at night Toll Plaza at Bay Bridge at night Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 20, 2015 12:53 PM UTC A toll booth collector named Vladislav Samsonov — but goes by Sam — in Boca Grande, Fl, was fired for helping someone out. Samsonov, a military veteran who had worked at the booth for 29 years, said he was fired for covering someone’s toll fee out of his own pocket. [NBC2 reports](http://www.nbc-2.com/story/29567992/beloved-toll-collector-fired-for-paying-drivers-toll#.VazshUjgQjW) that Samsonov realized he had charged a truck driver too little and covered the difference with his own money — something he had occasionally done in the past when drivers were short on cash. “In my eyes there was no crime committed, I just helped somebody out,” he told the outlet. “I’d put the six dollars in, I got the six dollars back the next day.” His former employer, the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority, told NBC2 that they couldn’t comment on the issue. When Samsonov’s daughter Patricia posted what had happened [to Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204396793220524&set=o.61278615395&type=1), hundreds of people shared the story and offered kind words and fond memories of the beloved toll booth worker. For his part, Samsonov told NBC2 he was overwhelmed with the support, saying, “Makes me feel good, makes me want to cry.” _Read next:_ [_Hackers Threaten to Expose Millions of Ashley Madison’s ‘Cheating Dirtbags’_](http://time.com/3964059/ashley-madison-affair-adultery-infidelity-cheating-hack/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day_](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3964224/toll-booth-worker-fired/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3964224/toll-booth-worker-fired/"},"headline":"Internet Rallies Behind Fired Toll Booth Worker","datePublished":"2015-07-20T12:53:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:22:18.645Z","description":"The employee had worked at the toll for 29 years","url":"https://time.com/3964224/toll-booth-worker-fired/","keywords":["Newsfeed","nation"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e98e2d2790f9a51/69885b8bcd1bba3af46fc56a/toll-booth.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e98e2d2790f9a51/69885b8bcd1bba3af46fc56a/toll-booth.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Toll Plaza at Bay Bridge at night","caption":"Toll Plaza at Bay Bridge at night","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3964224/toll-booth-worker-fired/","name":"Internet Rallies Behind Fired Toll Booth Worker"}}]}] ```