Kind of Soon For Another Winner

I should be in the middle of a losing streak right now, after my $1000 win a couple weeks ago. Well. Tell it to The Universe! If I could pick a winner whenever I wanted, I would space them out. Uh huh. Sure I would. But I'm not going to turn down the win I had on Sunday:

That's a $500 WINNER! Kind of unusual this time. Started off with the first six numbers matching. Then one didn't. I had been thinking it was going to be a win all kind of ticket, matching every number. But only twenty out of the twenty-five matched. THEN I figured it was probably going to be $10 prize under each number, for a $200 winner. But no! I was shocked when I revealed the $25 prizes!

I'd been eyeing this $20 ticket for three days at the Gas Station Chicken Store. I'd go in to buy my low-roller tickets, and this would catch my attention. Finally, I decided that I could take a chance on it. I love a multiplier ticket. And with my recent good fortune, it would not break my lottery allowance. So I took it. I was kind of disappointed when I saw my favorite clerk yank it out of the case. Meaning that it was obviously the last ticket on the roll. Nothing to tear it away from.

Imagine my surprise when I got home and scratched it first. I saw that the first number was a match, and knew I would at least get my $20 investment back. That's always a relief on the big tickets. Anything else is gravy. Well. Val was soon swimmin' in gravy!

I got up early didn't go to bed on Monday morning, so I could get to town while the owners were at the Gas Station Chicken Store. They leave before 2:00, and clerks can't cash anything over $300. Casey's stores will only cash tickets up to $100. Only the Gas Station Chicken Store and Country Mart will cash up to $600. Anything $601 and above has to go through a Missouri Lottery office.

Anyhoo... I saw the owners' car parked out front. It was around 11:30. I also cashed in $25 of other winners, and bought more tickets. I held the $500 winner back, and asked the clerk, an old lady I rarely see, due to the hours I keep, if she could ask one of the owners to come up and cash it for me.

Old Lady Clerk kind of hemmed and hawed. She mumbled that one of them was right back there. But she didn't say anything. She scanned my other two winners, and got my tickets. I was waiting for her to pick up the phone and call back to their office. But she didn't. I was due $1 in change, and Old Lady Clerk riffled through the cash drawer. She mumbled something like, "I don't know if I have enough for that." Then she gave me my tickets and my dollar. Like we were done!

"Well? Can you call one of them to come cash my ticket?"

"They will just ask ME if I have enough money to cash it."

Huh. Well. I guess she really didn't want to be bothered. There was only one customer who came in behind me. Yet she acted like this was a done deal. She never actually SAID she didn't have enough cash in her drawer. I got the hint. 

"I guess I'll just take it over to Country Mart. They'll cash it for me."

So I did. The lady at the service desk was very polite and friendly. She took that money out right there and counted it in view.

"I can give it to you in hundreds."

"That's fine. I just want to cash it. I don't care about the bills. I got it yesterday over at the Gas Station Chicken Store. Last ticket on the roll."

"Oh. Yes it is. We usually have more big winners on the FIRST ticket."

"I've heard people say that, but I just don't like a first ticket. Too bad you can't cash a $1000 ticket I got here a couple weeks ago. I still have to make my appointment to take it to the city."

"That is so ridiculous, those appointments."

"I know! They never used to have appointments until the VIRUS, and now they won't go back to letting people walk in. I only ever saw one other person there in all the times I went to cash tickets."

A guy behind me cashed in a $100 winner. The gal said, "That will probably be the last ticket we can cash in today. That uses up my money." Good thing I got up early didn't go to bed!

Anyhoo... I found a place to cash my $500 winner. Such a terrible problem to have.