Today I went in Country Mart to buy some bananas, sharp cheddar, hamburger buns, and Hick’s special ice cream in the little cups with strawberry and chocolate swirls. On the way out, I stopped at the lottery machine for tickets. I put in a twenty, my plan being to get a $10 Money Millionaire, a $5 crossword, a $3 mini crossword, and a $2 purple multiplier. I looked at the balance before hitting the button for my last ticket, the $2 purple multiplier, and saw the balance was $12.
I’d been in line for a while, and had not seen anybody at the lottery machines. Obviously, somebody had walked out without using all their money. Those machines don’t give change. I got my $2 ticket, and was turning to tell a cashier when a lady appeared under my right arm. She was maybe 30, no makeup, black hair parted in the middle.
Anyhoo… she was shoving her used tickets under the scanner before I could move away from the front of the machine. I told her,
“There’s money in this machine. I’m going to tell someone.” I walked off and ‘Excuse-me-ed’ to the first cashier. “There’s $10 left in this ticket machine, and I already got my money’s worth. Did you notice anybody by it? I don’t want to spend it, in case they come back looking for it.”
“I’m sorry. There’s really nothing we can do about that.” She even looked annoyed that I brought it up.
Huh. I went back to get my cart, and told the Close-Scanner, “I’m done here.” And went to the other machine for a $3 Bingo and a $3 Gold Mine. No way was I spending that $10 that didn’t belong to me. That Close-Scanner looked like she needed the money more than I did. Of course, she could have enough money to burn a wet mule, as Hick says [FACT CHECK: Val never burned a wet mule], and is just more comfortable walking around in old jeans and a t-shirt. I don’t care WHO spent it, that WHO wasn’t going to be me!
I try to keep on the plus side of Karma’s ledger. I told The Pony, “If I played that $10, and won a big jackpot on the ticket, I’d feel guilty for the rest of my rich life!”
The Pony said, “But if you read about Country Mart having a big winner on a $10 ticket, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
“Yeah. The rest of my POOR life. But I wouldn’t feel guilty.”
So far, Karma has not paid off. I only won $5 for the day! This honesty business is not very profitable! But I’m confident that Karma and Even Steven are putting their heads together, whispering about a surprise party eventually, to reward me..
“There’s money in this machine. I’m going to tell someone.” I walked off and ‘Excuse-me-ed’ to the first cashier. “There’s $10 left in this ticket machine, and I already got my money’s worth. Did you notice anybody by it? I don’t want to spend it, in case they come back looking for it.”
“I’m sorry. There’s really nothing we can do about that.” She even looked annoyed that I brought it up.
Huh. I went back to get my cart, and told the Close-Scanner, “I’m done here.” And went to the other machine for a $3 Bingo and a $3 Gold Mine. No way was I spending that $10 that didn’t belong to me. That Close-Scanner looked like she needed the money more than I did. Of course, she could have enough money to burn a wet mule, as Hick says [FACT CHECK: Val never burned a wet mule], and is just more comfortable walking around in old jeans and a t-shirt. I don’t care WHO spent it, that WHO wasn’t going to be me!
I try to keep on the plus side of Karma’s ledger. I told The Pony, “If I played that $10, and won a big jackpot on the ticket, I’d feel guilty for the rest of my rich life!”
The Pony said, “But if you read about Country Mart having a big winner on a $10 ticket, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
“Yeah. The rest of my POOR life. But I wouldn’t feel guilty.”
So far, Karma has not paid off. I only won $5 for the day! This honesty business is not very profitable! But I’m confident that Karma and Even Steven are putting their heads together, whispering about a surprise party eventually, to reward me..
I feel a casino trip in the near future. Maybe Steven will get even with you. You and Hick have good hearts.
ReplyDeleteYou are psychic. There WAS a casino trip dangled in my future, at 12:15. So maybe you're not exactly psychic, since your comment came AFTER the offer. Perhaps clairvoyant is a better term.
DeleteAnyhoo... we can't go on the proposed CASINOPALOOZA next week, because we have other commitments.
Hick and I have good hearts. But not healthy hearts. And there's the matter of mine being cold, cold. According to Genius and The Pony.
Oh, Even Steven EVENED me all right! See next comment reply below...
That is a mini karma/honesty dilemma. If I found a ten dollar bill on the street and say no one around who may have dropped it, I pick it up, I don't think this is any different. You did the right thing telling the teller, when she shrugged the paid for tickets are yours. I do see your point though.
ReplyDeleteYes, I did what I thought was the right thing. I slept very well in my OPC (Old People Chair) that night.
DeleteIt would have felt weird to go elbow my way in when that lady was at the ticket machine, even though I'd left my cart in front of it, marking my territory like a tilted stool in front of a slot machine. I don't think I would have spent the money even if she wasn't there.
My instincts were right. EVEN STEVEN DIDN'T LET ME DOWN! There very next day (Thursday, because this Ten-Dollar Dilemma happened on Wednesday, the day I wrote the blog post),
I HAD TWO $50 WINNERS! One on a twenty-dollar ticket, and the other on a five-dollar ticket. I wasn't meant to by a ten-dollar ticket...
Make that last sentence say BUY, before the SPELLING POLICE show up! I think I hear their siren in the distance.
DeleteI'm glad they don't have those machines here, I would have used that $10, since there doesn't seem to be anything the cashier can do about it. Not using it just gives the gambling corporations free money.
ReplyDeleteI was certain that if I didn't use it, somebody else WOULD. No way would that money have stayed on the machine until the end of the day. I bet it wouldn't have lasted an hour.
DeleteI just didn't want the person who left money on the machine to come back looking for it, and find it gone. I figure whoever got it, that money was meant for them, and not for me. The "corporation" in this case is the State of Missouri. Most people would think they deserve that found money, to stick it to the state!
There is that..if someone came back right after I'd used that $10, I would have given them a $10 out of my own pocket. But if no one came back, I wouldn't feel guilty.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I was thinking of the time I drove off and left $5 in one of the machines. I figured by the time I went back (I was still in town), it would be gone anyway. I didn't mind losing the money so much as feeling stupid for leaving it. I always have a plan of what I'm buying, and when they're out of my selections, it throws me off.
Delete