Tweet
Slow-Jo's "Bank of KFC" post reminded me of a story from my convenience store days that I figured deserved its own thread.
Before the days of Powerball, the hot game in town was Tri-State Megabucks. Our store was (and still is, I assume) a very popular lottery destination. Also, at the time our lottery terminal had its own separate till. People would buy Megabucks tickets like crazy for the Saturday night drawing.
Sunday morning, we would open later than usual...back then, it was 9 AM instead of the usual 7 AM. Not even half an hour would pass when someone would come in having matched four of six numbers for $40.
Back then, we would start our Megabucks till with $50. No twenties, one ten, three fives, and twenty-five singles. Our main till (I think) started out with $150, which included plenty of rolled change, singles, a few fives, and a couple of tens. Now, $50 isn't a lot to start with, especially on a day where there are no games being played that day. Now, it's just Pick 3/Pick 4 which few people would play, but IIRC it wasn't played on Sundays back then.
So this means that if one customer comes in with a $40 winner, I have to give them smaller bills unless I can exchange them with the main till, and my Megabucks till would drop down to $10. Two winners means I'm borrowing from the main till and have to put a note in there saying I did so. Luckily, in this small town there were rarely more than two $40 winners on any given Sunday. But if you want two twenties for your winnings, often times the answer is "ain't happenin'."
As a postscript, since the last time I was there ten years ago, I've heard they've gotten their act together. They don't do split tills for lottery anymore, probably since the state decided to have the lottery terminal validate instant tickets as well. They also open an hour earlier on Sundays; whether this causes people to just bring their $40 Megabucks winners or $100+ Powerball winners in sooner, I'll never know.
Before the days of Powerball, the hot game in town was Tri-State Megabucks. Our store was (and still is, I assume) a very popular lottery destination. Also, at the time our lottery terminal had its own separate till. People would buy Megabucks tickets like crazy for the Saturday night drawing.
Sunday morning, we would open later than usual...back then, it was 9 AM instead of the usual 7 AM. Not even half an hour would pass when someone would come in having matched four of six numbers for $40.
Back then, we would start our Megabucks till with $50. No twenties, one ten, three fives, and twenty-five singles. Our main till (I think) started out with $150, which included plenty of rolled change, singles, a few fives, and a couple of tens. Now, $50 isn't a lot to start with, especially on a day where there are no games being played that day. Now, it's just Pick 3/Pick 4 which few people would play, but IIRC it wasn't played on Sundays back then.
So this means that if one customer comes in with a $40 winner, I have to give them smaller bills unless I can exchange them with the main till, and my Megabucks till would drop down to $10. Two winners means I'm borrowing from the main till and have to put a note in there saying I did so. Luckily, in this small town there were rarely more than two $40 winners on any given Sunday. But if you want two twenties for your winnings, often times the answer is "ain't happenin'."
As a postscript, since the last time I was there ten years ago, I've heard they've gotten their act together. They don't do split tills for lottery anymore, probably since the state decided to have the lottery terminal validate instant tickets as well. They also open an hour earlier on Sundays; whether this causes people to just bring their $40 Megabucks winners or $100+ Powerball winners in sooner, I'll never know.