Your local convenience store IS NOT A CASINO.

[amitten]

A little etiquette lesson, if you will:

If you buy a lottery ticket, you do not get to scratch it off while other people wait behind you in line.

If you win after scratching, you do not then also get to collect said winnings while others still wait behind you in line.

After receiving your winnings, you do not then get to PURCHASE MORE TICKETS AND REPEAT THE WHOLE PROCESS OVER AGAIN AD NAUSEUM!!!!!!!!! (while my angry ass is STILL waiting behind you in line with somewhere to be and no more time to waste, asshole) :mad:

Why is this now a seemingly accepted practice at convenience stores nationwide?

[LaraMN]

1. I've been stuck in line behind people doing that.

Once, a girl ahead of me in line was using change to buy lottery tickets and held up the line while she scratched them off. It was both irritating and sad. My BIL works at a casino, and he says it's just depressing. Elderly people have died in their seats, and on numerous occasions people have defecated themselves rather than get up and leave a machine they feel is "hot". It's just absolutely sad.

[kmla]

2. Well, some of the people who shop at a convenience store...

... aren't exactly the crunchiest pickle in the barrel. So to speak.

Not trying to place blame on the wiser people who enjoy paying ALOT of extra money for preservative laden and corn-syrup filled snacks.

Just poking fun at the stupid people.

[Generic Brad]

30. Crunchiest pickles in the barrel!

That's hilarious. I have never heard that saying before. :rofl:

I give you a "10" for creativity!

[hedgehog]

3. Bravo! Say it again!

I buy milk in glass bottles, and nothing beats loading up 4 gallons at the back of the stor, schlepping it to the front and then standing in line while someone mulls over what numbers to pick!

[Roon]

4. Oh, I hate that too

I just wish they would do away with lottery tickets all together.

[amitten]

5. No kidding. It must be a huge source of income for the store,

though...because I've noticed the clerks give these customers polite, uninterrupted, and evidently unlimited service. They are never, ever asked to step aside to move the line along. They are given all the time in the world to sit there and scratch away again and again. :wtf: Unreal.

[WolverineDG]

6. That happened to me once

I had to fill up the car before going to work & some out-of-work asshole starts doing that. Meanwhile, the working stiffs just keep lining up to pay & some start getting huffy. The manager finally makes Asshole move over. He turns around & says "A lot of people here today" as if WE were interfering with HIS day by actually wanting to get to work. :grr:

dg

[maveric56]

7. HATE that! I call them "Scratcher Morans".

They go up there with the intent to take control and piss people off.
This one guy goes up to the glass counter window where the scratcher tix are sold, where he drums his fingers on the glass and mumbles something about "which ones today?". So he studies them like he's about to give his final answer on "Millionaire", then takes his time choosing at least three while telling the clerk about his past experiences. Then rather than taking his tix and walking away, he proceeds to scratch them off, where he always wins at least one more ticket and he goes through the same fucking ritual. All this while several pissed-off customers are in line.
I HATE THESE ASSHOLES! I truly beleive that they do it intentionally to piss everyone else off.
Do you notice that they always chat it up with the clerk about their past experiences with a certain ticket? Do you ever catch the clerk's reaction? Totally annoyed and saying under their breath "What an asshole".
Sell scratchers in machines only!

[RedStateShame]

8. As a smoker, this person is always in front of me when I need smokes...

And yes, I NEED them, it's a chemical addiction. And I always ponder, "If you're playing a game that is primarily based on your luck, wouldn't the realization that your best chance of financial stability come in a slip of construction paper be the first hint that you're not exactly on Lady Luck's speed dial?"

[ComerPerro]

23. I always get smokers who need a very specific thing

but don't want to give all the details at once.

Yeah, I need cigarettes. What? What Brand? Oh. _________. No, not those. The lights. No, not those. Actually, do you have ___________? How much are those? That much? How much for a case? Hmm. Nevermind. Grab me a pack of __________ instead. No, not those, the ones in the green wrapper."

[LanternWaste]

9. As my (late) grandfather told me some years back...

As my (late) grandfather told me some years back...

"Son, lottery tickets are a tax on ignorance"

Not *quite* apropos to the OP, but it still tickles me.

[amitten]

10. Well, I have no problem with people playing the lottery. It's when

they take their turn in line and make it into a ten-minute scratch fest that I get pissed.

Some of us actually have somewhere to be, y'know? This is why we've made a quick stop at the "convenience" store, instead of the grocery store. It's supposed to be FAST. It's common decency to pay for what you purchased and step aside so the line can move along.

[LanternWaste]

18. Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with your OP.

Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with your OP. But don't count on common decency anymore. It's becoming a rarity in this country. Manners, respect, civility... they're outdated, uncool and have very small profit margins.

(Don't get me started on my irritation about people's shopping habits in the grocery store... my BP'll go up about twenty-five points)

[sendero]

11. You have to be some kind of stupid..

... to buy lotto tickets that pay at best $.50 on the dollar in a repeated fashion.

Lotto: monetary mathematical Darwinism :)

[amitten]

12. You have to be some kind of rude to make your turn in line last

indefinitely, too.

[NashVegas]

13. There's Only One Thing to Do In That Circumstance

Place the items you were going to purchase on the counter and walk out.

[idgiehkt]

14. the clerks don't care, though.

I would say just call the district manager, and tell him or her what happened. Or e-mail corporate. Tell them the time and they can look at the video if they want to. Don't bother with minimum wage clerks who are there just to do their 8 and hit the gate.

[billyskank]

15. Aha. Where that plan falls down

It's a convenience store. You're there because you can't be arsed to go anywhere else. It's convenient.

That's why they can get away with such bad service, selling such poor quality produce at such inflated prices.

[radwriter0555]

29. Well, you could also speak up with a smile and ask if you could get rung

up please?

And if they refuse, then put your things on the counter and walk out.

[samsingh]

16. some people are trying to make it that.

[Major Hogwash]

17. Hahahahahaha!

Great rant!

I saw a guy stand at the counter once and blow $100 down the drain on $1 scratch tickets. When it was finally my turn to get to the counter, I asked the clerk how long that guy had been there and he said 40 minutes!!

[Pied Piper]

19. The ones who drive me nutso...

anyone who purchases a candy bar and a bottle of water, then after scrounging around their wallet/purse, decides to put a $2 purchase on a debit or credit card. AARGH!! How hard is is to keep a $5 dollar bill in your pocket?

[bigwillq]

20. Hell yeah! K&R!

Good rant! I so agree! :bounce: :toast: :hi:

[KamaAina]

21. Look at it this way...

maybe the miscreant will win big on one of those scratch-offs, say $100,000, then run out into the middle of the street yelling "Yippee! Yahoo!" -- then get nailed by a big-ass, speeding pickup.

Hey, that gives me a really cool idea for a TV show... :-)

[Kajsa]

22. " My Name is Earl" ?

;)

[KamaAina]

24. Perfect!

We'll set it in a trailer park in Appalachia, then we'll... oh, never mind. :-)

[Kajsa]

26. LOL !

:7

[jonnyblitz]

25. I live next door to a casino and they STILL do it in the stores

nearby!! I thought it was standard procedure because it is so prevelant, that of which you speak. I didn't know I was entitled to bitch about it! It drives me crazy , too!

[amitten]

27. Oh, you're entitled all right. It's rude, annoying, and defies all the

normal waiting-in-line rules.

[NMMNG]

28. Fortunately in most of the convenience stores around here

The lottery tickets are sold in a different line than the other items. Therefore after the lottery customer gets his/her tickets s/he can stand there and scratch to his/her content (presuming there are no other lottery customers in line). If s/he wants to cash those tickets in afterward s/he has to wait for the clerk to finish ringing up the customers in the regular line, unless there's more than one clerk on duty (which there often is).