Wednesday Night

Wednesday night, what a beginning!

Right at the start, a man came in to cash in two lottery tickets. He won $100 on the first ticket. I have a line forming and I know I don’t have that much money in my drawer, And actually, when you pay out $100 and more you are supposed to give them a money order. It is a little after 11 and I can’t do money orders right now. Since I am now concerned that he has won a lot, I ask if the other ticket is like the first. No, just $15. I asked him if wanted the money or if he wanted to buy some more tickets. More tickets (they nearly always buy more tickets). $25 worth. He got a lot of ones!

The woman behind him in line has three separate orders:
1. Gas on her debit card.
2. Sodas on her EBT card
3. Cigarettes with cash.

My night begins with two of my favorite things – lottery and EBT!

Shortly after this, a group of loud and profane young men come in. First guy makes a purchase and then asks for change for a $20. My third favorite thing, being treated like the bank! He got a lot of ones as well. He wasn’t too happy about it either. His buddy comes to the counter and asks for a cigar. He says, “I don’t have my ID, but I’m 21.” (People do this all the time, run around at night with no ID, intending to buy age-restricted products. They always seem surprised when asked for one, too.) I couldn’t tell if his look was a challenge or some kind of threat. I said, “Man, if you hadn’t told me you didn’t have an ID you would've been alright. But now that you’ve told, I can’t sell this to you.” He feebly argued that he was 21 but then turn to his friend and said, “OK, you get the cigar.” I said, “No. Can’t do that. I know he’s buying for you.”

As I said, what a beginning. Things slowed down for the rest of the night. Then, at 4:50 AM (I know what time it was because I had just finished day close and he was my first customer) a man brought a 12 pack of Milwaukee’s Best beer to the counter. I know he’s not on his way to work, but this IS ‘on the way to work’ time, so I commented, “Man, I gotta find out where you work so I can go to work like this too!” (I’m joking with the fellow, I don’t really want to go to work and drink 12 beers. Besides, I hear that Milwaukee’s Best is nasty stuff!) He said, “I’m a musician, we do what we want to!” HAHA! And he really was. He is the driver for one band, and had just returned from a ‘gig’ at Myrtle Beach, and the bass player for another band. And he spent ten years associated in some way with Chairman of the Board. We had a good laugh.

A little bit later, the manager of the McDonald’s across the street came in for her coffee for the morning and sodas for the day. She seems like a nice person and always positive and upbeat. I asked her, “Do you ever have a bad day?” She paid for her purchase and then replied, “Yeah, I have bad days now and then, but I get over them quickly.” Pretty cool, don’t you think?

And then my night ended on a real positive note – my manager said, “You can go now.”