Yesterday afternoon I stopped off at a nearby confectionery to check some lottery tickets I had. I tend to gather a number of them before checking for winners, rather than racing the the lotto kiosk after every draw. I used the self-checker and found that I only had two winning tickets out of the ten or so I brought in, and those were only worth two dollars each, just enough to pay for a ticket for this Wednesday's draw which I believe may be around $7M. While waiting in line to pay for my goods and grab a new ticket, there was a little Filipino guy behind me, muttering about who-knows-what. His accent was thick and I really didn't give a crap anyway. The only words that I did understand from his garbled speech was "thank you" when I ushered him to another til ahead of myself. I was nearly at the cash register in the line that I was in, so I didn't mind if he moved ahead of me and another till.
No sooner had I handed over my two winning tickets to collect the four bucks to cover the cost of my new ticket, than I overheard that same polite fellow begin freaking out at the checkout clerk helping him out. Apparently, he too, was cashing in a lottery ticket. His was a scratch ticket, however, and worth (from what I gathered) $10,000. She explained to him repeatedly that he had to cash a large sum ticket with the Lottery Commission, and that such a substantial amount of money could not be awarded from a business like this, nor would it be safe for him to carry out a large sum of money like ten grand, but he would have none of that explanation. It seemed, as if, they more clearly she explained, the angrier and the worse his accent got. By the time I was gathering up my goods to leave, this man was as coherent as the Tasmanian Devil and just about as riled up, too.
No sooner had I handed over my two winning tickets to collect the four bucks to cover the cost of my new ticket, than I overheard that same polite fellow begin freaking out at the checkout clerk helping him out. Apparently, he too, was cashing in a lottery ticket. His was a scratch ticket, however, and worth (from what I gathered) $10,000. She explained to him repeatedly that he had to cash a large sum ticket with the Lottery Commission, and that such a substantial amount of money could not be awarded from a business like this, nor would it be safe for him to carry out a large sum of money like ten grand, but he would have none of that explanation. It seemed, as if, they more clearly she explained, the angrier and the worse his accent got. By the time I was gathering up my goods to leave, this man was as coherent as the Tasmanian Devil and just about as riled up, too.
I don't know how to word this next part without making myself sound like a total asshole, but I'll give it a whirl. It's not his behavior that offends me in this scenario, but the mere fact that HE won that kind of money and I'm still cashing in free tickets and two dollar paydays. This guy is "fresh off the boat", so to say, and I've lived here all my life. I mean, they guy is still wet behind the ears practically, and I've more than paid my dues, so-to-speak. I've lived in this country, freezing my ass off every winter, getting blasted by intolerable heat in the summers. I've broken bones, tore muscle, and had teeth smashed out of my head, but I get a couple of bucks from playing the lotto, while this insensitive prick from half way around the world, steps off the plane, buys a lottery ticket and wins ten grand. Then adding insult to injury, pisses and moans about having to wait until the next day to go cash the ticket in, via the usual methods. Somebody ought to kick his ass, on principle only. If I were a lesser person with loose morals, I would have done it and stolen his ticket. Except I'm more civilized than that. Plus, I don't look like a Pereira or a de la Cruz...
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