I used to work overnights at a gas station/convenience store. We sold Lotto tickets. Both the type where you pick your numbers and check the results of a drawing and the scratchers. It was a pretty excellent job, really. I'd go in, do about two hours of cleaning, sit down and read for an hour, clean a few more things. Deal with a customer here and there. I had some regular customers who were pretty cool who'd pop in and keep me company for a bit. I also had some regular customers who I wanted to do medical experiments on. Okay, maybe not exactly medical experiments, but things like "Can I fit this bastard's head in a coffee pot?" And those bastards were the scratcher ticket assholes. And the people who drove up to the store stoned off their asses, but they're not the focus of this rant. Although The Human Torch is a great story. I'll tell it sometime.
Most people work for their money and I don't give a rat's ass how those people spend their money. You worked 45 hours this week, are tired and in pain, and want to spend a dollar in hopes of winning ten dollars? Go for it! The Mega Millions jackpot is really, really high this week? Buy a couple of tickets. You saved all year to go to Vegas and want to play Black Jack all weekend? Have fun! These are not the people I want to choke.
19 year old kid walks into the store. He just sold some pot outside, so he has a good chunk of cash in his pocket. He asks for a $1 scratch-off ticket. Stands at the counter, scratches it off, leaving a neat little pile of silver shavings on the counter, even though there is a trash can literally six inches away from him. The ticket is a $1 winner. So, kid turns the ticket back in, and asks for another ticket. Okay. Takes his second ticket. Scratches it off at the register, shavings pile, etc. This ticket is a loser. So he pulls another dollar out his pocket. Repeat. Loses. Pulls out another dollar. Scratch scratch. Messy messy. Lose. Another dollar. Repeat entire process until kid has spent $30, plus the tickets that actually won that were turned in. This is really annoying because it has eaten an hour of my time. There's no patience with this person. I can't continue to stock cigarettes. Because apparently I'm a fucking vending machine and am only there to hand some jackass an entire roll of lotto scratchers one ticket at a time. However the super assy behavior here is that THERE ARE OTHER FUCKING CUSTOMERS and this asshole refuses to get the fuck out of line so another customer can check out.
My boyfriend ran into an asshole like this at the store today, so it's not just the one particular drug-dealing kid at one-thirty in the morning like I used to deal with. These people are all over the place, being pains in everyone's ass. Some of them have actual jobs and aren't just drug dealers. Some are adults. Some come out during the fucking grocery rush between five and six p.m.
I do not care how many lottery tickets you purchase. If you want to buy fifty tickets, cool. Buy them all at once and get the fuck out of my way. If you buy one and are disappointed and want to try again, fine. Get back in the goddamn line for your separate transaction. But if you're prepared to spend $30 on tickets, spend $30, go to your car, leave a shavings mess in your own car, then come back inside and redeem the redeemable ones. You know what? I don't even fucking care if you scratch off two or three tickets at the counter PROVIDED I DON'T HAVE A LINE. If there's a line, buy what you're buying and come back if you want. I frequently had to tell the drug-dealing kid to move so I could ring up another customer. And he'd get so huffy and pissy! "I was here first." Yes. You were. For the last motherfucking twenty minutes. You're obviously not leaving any time soon, just fucking move so the line can keep moving. Otherwise another customer WILL run you down with a buggy and the cashier will not help you acquire medical assistance. We might just pour those scratcher shavings in your mouth while you're on the floor with wheel marks on your face.
No comments:
Post a Comment