Give Up and Go Home Already

[PepperElf]

I read somewhere that approximately half of all Americans (and probably a large number of people in other countries, but this was the only statistic I saw) are basing their future financial security on them winning big in the lottery.

That scares me.

i admit i sometimes daydream about what i'd do if i won it but... i consider that a pipe dream.


right now the dream includes buying a house and investing in the roller derby team I do website work for. my bf's dream is to build a privately-owned convention center in the next state over (they don't have one). and of course there'd be a roller derby track in it. team rent would be pretty low.

oh and a house with a big yard for the dog to run in. come to think of it the convention center would probably have some parks and a dog park too. members only so we can keep the shitty dog-owners out of course. ;-)



but i know this isn't going to happen. i have no mind for business myself (he does though) but i'm just aiming for a job to pay bills

[blas]

I don't miss Powerball days at the gas station.

A few times, Powerball got to be really high up there, and I swear, people were swarming the damn store, everyone thinking they'd win. I guess back at that age, I should have felt more pity and found more humor in the desperation of these people than to get so upset, but it was hard when the line was going to the back of the store and everyone was spending tons and tons of money on these stupid tickets.

[PepperElf]

Me: That's fine, I have a ton of other ones over here that people didn't want.

I do have to say, however, that you're lucky.

I remember seeing a news report back in the 80s or 90s about a woman who'd printed up the wrong tickets for the customer. He refused to buy them so the store made her pay for the tickets herself - $50 worth!

The thing is... it was in the news, not because of how horrible it was that she was forced to pay out of pocket for this... but because she won the jackpot.

I bet that customer was kicking himself in the ass after that. Mom said a 'true gambler' would have said "hey maybe this is a good omen" and accepted the tickets.

although if it hadn't been a winning ticket... well that would have sucked ass for her.

[Sapphire Silk]

What I don't understand are the people who win, and go on the news to rave about it! I'd be staying as anonymous as possible,

Some of these folks really don't have a choice; to collect you must appear publicly. The lottery commissions like to show off the big winners because it encourages other people to blow their money taking a chance at the jackpot they will likely never win.

NB: Not that I haven't bought lottery tickets myself, and I did blow $10 on the big PowerBall jackpot last week. Got one number but no PowerBall so I didn't win

I do have to say, however, that you're lucky.

I remember seeing a news report back in the 80s or 90s about a woman who'd printed up the wrong tickets for the customer. He refused to buy them so the store made her pay for the tickets herself - $50 worth!.

although if it hadn't been a winning ticket... well that would have sucked ass for her.

I think Karma was smiling on her considering how badly her boss screwed her over. I hope she told him to take this job and shove it after she collected her winnings.

[KatherineB]

I think Karma was smiling on her considering how badly her boss screwed her over. I hope she told him to take this job and shove it after she collected her winnings.

I think it would have been far more satisfying for her to keep working there. Imagine the boss seeing her every day knowing what he had 'gifted' her.

[b2addm]

I do have to say, however, that you're lucky.

I remember seeing a news report back in the 80s or 90s about a woman who'd printed up the wrong tickets for the customer. He refused to buy them so the store made her pay for the tickets herself

I used to work for a store that made us buy the mistake tickets too. I bought several over the 2 years that I worked there until we started ringing them up on the register and collecting the payment BEFORE we would print them. And of course it was NO returns on lottery tickets.

[wolfie]

II remember seeing a news report back in the 80s or 90s about a woman who'd printed up the wrong tickets for the customer. He refused to buy them so the store made her pay for the tickets herself - $50 worth!

I used to work for a store that made us buy the mistake tickets too. I bought several over the 2 years that I worked there until we started ringing them up on the register and collecting the payment BEFORE we would print them. And of course it was NO returns on lottery tickets.

But isn't there some method (I'm assuming it auto-locks out at draw time, and is only used if the problem is brought forward BEFORE the customer leaves the counter) to cancel "error" tickets? On a few occasions, at the local convenience store I've asked for "one line for each of the next 2 draws" (expecting to be out of province for the interval between the 2 draws), and they'd print up 2 separate 1-line tickets for the next draw. Your solution, b2addm, wouldn't be able to handle that - since the tickets printed were NOT what I had ordered (would appear as a single-line ticket with a date range instead of a single date). The C-store was able to cancel those and issue the ticket I wanted.

[Gaki]

But isn't there some method (I'm assuming it auto-locks out at draw time, and is only used if the problem is brought forward BEFORE the customer leaves the counter) to cancel "error" tickets? On a few occasions, at the local convenience store I've asked for "one line for each of the next 2 draws" (expecting to be out of province for the interval between the 2 draws), and they'd print up 2 separate 1-line tickets for the next draw. Your solution, b2addm, wouldn't be able to handle that - since the tickets printed were NOT what I had ordered (would appear as a single-line ticket with a date range instead of a single date). The C-store was able to cancel those and issue the ticket I wanted.

We can cancel CERTAIN tickets but NONE of the "big" games can be cancelled. One time a guy left us with over 400 dollars in mistakes and we were on the phone with the lottery for THREE HOURS before they voided out the tickets we had printed. (I was NOT the one who printed those, thank god.) We also do not have to buy them if nobody wants them. We just lose money on them but since we're an expanding corporation they're not too worried about losing money on them.

I am the reigning queen of selling mistakes, however. I once sold a 260 dollar piece of paper. Woman ended up with 480 dollars in the end. Can't say I never gave her anything, can she? Haha.

I'm known to find the perfect people to buy the mistakes my coworkers make. I should go into used car sales.

[wolfie]

We can cancel CERTAIN tickets but NONE of the "big" games can be cancelled.

Since mistakes happen (like the case I mentioned), why would the big games be non-cancellable? Both 6/49 and Lotto Max (the 2 big ones around here) are cancellable. I can understand something like "Poker Lotto" being non-cancellable, but that's because it's a "double-draw" - once immediately when the ticket is sold, and once on a set schedule.

[Merriweather]

, I can only imagine the crazies who track the big winners down! I have plenty of family & friends I intend to share with if I ever win, without having strangers show up at my door with some sob story or scam..

The local lottery had a billboard I loved. It simply said "Discover long lost relatives - win the State Lottery".