Bad employee or dumb manager?

I was in a 7-11 getting my normal road trip stash of really bad things that I could not eat this morning. when the cashier, a customer and myself struck up one of those conversations that only lasts 2 minutes but leave you thinking for a long time afterwards.

To frame the conversation, it dealt with a off-hand comment from the cashier about how's your day? My reply was "atlest I have not been fired yet!" (In light of all the recent Q3 reports of companies downsizing. The other customer then stated that he had from his gas pumping job. (In Oregon it's basically illegally to pump your own gas.) He stated that the reason was, that the other guys were not fired because they owed teh owner money for over pumps. (I do not get that). The customer stated that he was so on top of everything, training everyone, showing them want to do, keeping them motivated that he did not owe anything. The owner stated that he had to let him go because the others owed money to the gas station.

Wow, what a bad philosophy. Getting fired because your too good at your job. I would fire the others after a motivational speech and guidelines laid out. Keep this guy as he is MAKING YOU MONEY and taking care of the customers in ways that might not be known to the owner.

Blows my mind. Now he is going to the welfare office to get on unemployment. DUMB. He is smart and apparently a good worker.