NationStates Jolt Archive

Today I was in the store picking up some chap stick and cotton swabs and I go to check out. There are three lines, one is much longer than the other two so I just pick one of the short ones and wait my turn.

Some lady ahead of me had at least 15 lottery tickets that she was giving the cashier to see if they were winning tickets. Apparently checking these tickets involves feeding it into some sort of machine that says "you're a winner" when you win and nothing if you lose. Each time a ticket goes in, it takes about a minute to process and then this is repeated with the next ticket. I watched as the people who arrived in the other short line after me checked out their goods and the line grew longer behind me until eventually they opened another cash register to deal with the large line which I jumped in, paid in cash and left after less than a minute interacting with a cashier... the lady with the lottery tickets was finishing up with the reading of the tickets and had moved onto purchasing new tickets...

Now, my thinking is that there should be a separate line for this lottery bullshit. The five people who were behind me and the other person in front of me should not have had to wait for this person whose ineptitude with statistics leads her to buy an excessive number of lottery tickets which take forever to process.

Have you ever had a similar experience?

Nope, as far as I know lottery tickets don't work like that where I live.

musta been a slow lottery machine. the ones here take about 5 seconds to declare you a loser.

I think they should just make a tax for being stupid to replace the lottery.

musta been a slow lottery machine. the ones here take about 5 seconds to declare you a loser.
This is possible, but given how many tickets this woman had it was going to take a while anyway.

Nope, dont have machines like that.

nope. numbers are on TV or the national lottery website here. easy enough to check them yourself and tear up your own tickets

but it sounds like they should really have two queues

What you needed to do was slap that silly bint upside the head.

This sort of incident is precisely why I support concealed carry of axes. That way the silly cow mentioned could receive the brutal and horrific death she deserves for buying so many tickets and inconveniencing everyone else by continuing to check them all even when it became clear how long each one was going to take.

This sort of incident is precisely why I support concealed carry of axes. That way the silly cow mentioned could receive the brutal and horrific death she deserves for buying so many tickets and inconveniencing everyone else by continuing to check them all even when it became clear how long each one was going to take.

I like swords, more elegant.

I like swords, more elegant.

:eek:I would have thought that brutal hacking of limbs rather than elegant, graceful, controlled swishing movements would be the order of the day in this case.

:eek:I would have thought that brutal hacking of limbs rather than elegant, graceful, controlled swishing movements would be the order of the day in this case.

I train with a bastard sword... (yes I'm a geek) its the best of both worlds... elegant, graceful, controlled, swishing, with brutal, visceral, hacking of limbs.

That happens in the convenience store near my house. Lottery addicts hang out there all day long, playing the various games. It's like a mini casino. They give you weird looks if you're just buying snacks or milk.

The store always has to have at least two clerks to handle the lines, and it's obvious the people who work there hate making grocery customers wait while they deal with ticket buyers. They are afraid of losing business because grocery customers get tired of waiting. I've seen the boss come out from the back to call grocery customers out of the line to another register, when both clerks have their hands full with lottery players.

Only a few of the regular lottery players have the courtesy to let grocery customers go ahead of them if they have/want to buy a lot of tickets.

I train with a bastard sword... (yes I'm a geek) its the best of both worlds... elegant, graceful, controlled, swishing, with brutal, visceral, hacking of limbs.

Ah. Well I defer to your superior knowledge on the topic :)

Whenever I'm stuck in a queue behind some old person taking far too long to pay for whatever they're buying chatting away with the person behind the till, or whenever I'm trying to get somewhere and there's someone right in the middle of the path, stopped, fiddling with phone/Ipod/whatever I tend to visualize and enjoy the image of myself brutally murdering them with an axe or sometimes a chainsaw. I think this might mean I'm a psychopath:(

I train with a bastard sword... (yes I'm a geek) its the best of both worlds... elegant, graceful, controlled, swishing, with brutal, visceral, hacking of limbs.

A bastard sword is actually one of the quicker ways to kill someone with a sword. A rapier is much better, stab them a few times and they take forever to die. One of the reasons duels were so fatal.

Ah. Well I defer to your superior knowledge on the topic :)

Whenever I'm stuck in a queue behind some old person taking far too long to pay for whatever they're buying chatting away with the person behind the till, or whenever I'm trying to get somewhere and there's someone right in the middle of the path, stopped, fiddling with phone/Ipod/whatever I tend to visualize and enjoy the image of myself brutally murdering them with an axe or sometimes a chainsaw. I think this might mean I'm a psychopath:(

Psychopaths actually DO those things. Not just visualize it, your... errrmmm not psycho (I couldn't say normal, just couldn't)

cost of having a seperate lottery line doesn't balance out the time it saves you.

cost of having a seperate lottery line doesn't balance out the time it saves you.

bah! How dare you suggest that a store inconveniences anyone! If they can't afford to have a separate line for morons, they should sell the store and go back to digging ditches!

Psychopaths actually DO those things. Not just visualize it, your... errrmmm not psycho (I couldn't say normal, just couldn't)

Ah good. Then I'm going to go with the argument that its a healthy and good way of channelling anger away rather than evidence of mental disturbance :p

Thank you. Your statement has reassured me. When I'm in charge, you shall die last:)

Thank you. Your statement has reassured me. When I'm in charge, you shall die last:)

Sigged.

I think they should just make a tax for being stupid to replace the lottery.

The lottery is a tax for being stupid

Very witty Dyakovo!
Well Dakini, your unpleasant wait has certainly provoked a response - from slapping the bint to homicidal fantasies.

I think that the system for queues is irrelevant here. The point is that little old ladies with their irritating habits will engineer it so that they will always be in front of YOU! If you are of a spiritual bent they are the Creator's angels showing you the divine virtue of patience. If you are not of a spiritual bent, I still don't suggest an upside slap because that is against the law and, besides we should have respect for little old &*^%*$#@& ladies.

People who spend money on lottery tickets might as well burn the money, or flush it down the toilet. It's pretty much doing the same thing.

People who spend money on lottery tickets might as well burn the money, or flush it down the toilet. It's pretty much doing the same thing.

Unless you win.

People who spend money on lottery tickets might as well burn the money, or flush it down the toilet. It's pretty much doing the same thing.

Not really. They are providing a valuable public service by contributing money to something that then distributes it to organisations that need it, like sports clubs and charities. And they get to enjoy a momentary feeling of exciting anticipation when the numbers are about to be drawn.

Not really. They are providing a valuable public service by contributing money to something that then distributes it to organisations that need it, like sports clubs and charities. And they get to enjoy a momentary feeling of exciting anticipation when the numbers are about to be drawn.

and then soul crushing defeat when their numbers don't come up. Another night drinking in the trailer park.

and then soul crushing defeat when their numbers don't come up. Another night drinking in the trailer park.

Hey :( I live in a trailer park.

Hey :( I live in a trailer park.

Say hi to the old ladies for me then :D

Say hi to the old ladies for me then :D

NO old ladies, just ugly ones.

musta been a slow lottery machine. the ones here take about 5 seconds to declare you a loser.

I had a conversation about this with a friend just a few days ago, it turns out that the old lottery machines take about a minute, but the new ones take about 5 seconds. You must be lucky and have a new machine :)

People who spend money on lottery tickets might as well burn the money, or flush it down the toilet. It's pretty much doing the same thing.

That could be said for most things, really.

and then soul crushing defeat when their numbers don't come up. Another night drinking in the trailer park.

Hardly soul crushing. And a lottery should not be seen as a sure way to get out of financial difficulty.

hmmm lottery no thanks I already set fire to a pile of money earlier this morning

That could be said for most things, really.

ya when you buy food you do eventually flush it down the toilet.

hmmm lottery no thanks I already set fire to a pile of money earlier this morning

You stole that from Dr. Cox!

hey morrissons usually has a seperate line for the lottery, i know because my mum is one of the stupid people that play :(