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I just was at a convenience store near my office. In front of me in line at the cash register was a guy who had to have been at least eighty. He obviously wanted to buy a Lotto scratch off ticket, but was completely confused by what the tickets did, what they cost, or how to play their various games. In this state, there are at least fifteen different scratch off games available at any one time and each one has a different price and different rules.
The old guy was demanding a scratch off, but when the poor clerk asked him which one, the old guy just snapped, “A scratch off. How hard is that to understand?”
The clerk was surprisingly nice about the situation and pointed out the numerous scratch off games available. This seemed to get the old man even more ornery and he told the clerk not to show him all that "stupid (stuff)" and just give him a regular scratch off.
The clerk now was much less friendly and said to the old guy that all those games were scratch offs and the old guy needed to select the one he wanted as there had not been a singular scratch off game since the mid-90’s. The old guy slapped a dollar on the counter and shouted that he knew what he was talking about and wanted a scratch off. The clerk said nothing more, but pulled out a one dollar game card and handed it to the old guy.
The old guy then looked at the card in a funny way and told the clerk that this had better not be “one of those rip-off dud cards”. The cashier just took the dollar and rang up the card.
At this point, I expected the old guy to walk away. Nope. He stood at the counter and scratched off all the coverings on the card – including the area that the player is not supposed to touch – and thrust it at the clerk demanding to know what he had won.
The clerk glanced at the card and said that it was not a winner. The guy blew up and started screaming (with spittle flying) that the clerk stole his money and sold him a dud and that he was tired of always being ripped off and wanted his money back and was going to call the cops and was going to sue etc.
By now, I had had enough, so I pulled out a dollar bill and held it out to the old guy telling him that I would pay for his ticket if he would move and let the rest of us in line check out. The old guy started to yell at me to mind my own business until the clerk said that if he did not leave right then, the clerk was going to call the police and have him removed. The old guy snatched the bill from my hand and stormed out saying he was going to “get the store for this”.
The clerk thanked me.
The old guy was demanding a scratch off, but when the poor clerk asked him which one, the old guy just snapped, “A scratch off. How hard is that to understand?”
The clerk was surprisingly nice about the situation and pointed out the numerous scratch off games available. This seemed to get the old man even more ornery and he told the clerk not to show him all that "stupid (stuff)" and just give him a regular scratch off.
The clerk now was much less friendly and said to the old guy that all those games were scratch offs and the old guy needed to select the one he wanted as there had not been a singular scratch off game since the mid-90’s. The old guy slapped a dollar on the counter and shouted that he knew what he was talking about and wanted a scratch off. The clerk said nothing more, but pulled out a one dollar game card and handed it to the old guy.
The old guy then looked at the card in a funny way and told the clerk that this had better not be “one of those rip-off dud cards”. The cashier just took the dollar and rang up the card.
At this point, I expected the old guy to walk away. Nope. He stood at the counter and scratched off all the coverings on the card – including the area that the player is not supposed to touch – and thrust it at the clerk demanding to know what he had won.
The clerk glanced at the card and said that it was not a winner. The guy blew up and started screaming (with spittle flying) that the clerk stole his money and sold him a dud and that he was tired of always being ripped off and wanted his money back and was going to call the cops and was going to sue etc.
By now, I had had enough, so I pulled out a dollar bill and held it out to the old guy telling him that I would pay for his ticket if he would move and let the rest of us in line check out. The old guy started to yell at me to mind my own business until the clerk said that if he did not leave right then, the clerk was going to call the police and have him removed. The old guy snatched the bill from my hand and stormed out saying he was going to “get the store for this”.
The clerk thanked me.
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