A mystery solved
There's a retiree I run into frequently where I buy my gas. He's been there all summer long. I'd like to think we're on similar time schedules, and he doesn't actually hang out there for extended periods. This is one of those stations where the cashiers are in a pillbox-sized shack behind bulletproof glass, goods and services are negotiated through a crackly speaker and exchanged through a sliding drawer, so there's not a lot of loiter room.

But more often than not, when I'm buying gas every third day or so, this guy is standing off to the side, hunched over a corner of the stainless steel ledge. He's not unusual, or scruffy looking. He doesn't seem mental or threatening in any way.

What's he doing there? Scratching off instant game lottery tickets. Always. These are usually the cheap games; draw poker, easy eights, Wild Money, and those other $1 and $2 chances with a top payoff in the low thousands. You'd think the Reciever General of the Commonwealth should send holiday cards to people such as this. But I believe cigarette smokers, paying around $3 per pack in taxes these days, probably outspend the lottery addicts. Bless 'em all... Taxachusetts isn't winning enough Proposition 2 1/2 overrides these days, so keep those revenue streams open. Especially the ones that exploit the addictive weaknesses of poorer people.

I've made up little self-amusing vignettes about my Lottery Guy; why he's there, where he lives, how he sets his alarm in the morning so he can be sure to walk down to the Hess station in time to catch when they change the roll of 7's or 11's, the time he had to use sled dogs to get there during a blizzard... I won't bore you with those.

But the burning question... what would he do if he won?

Yesterday I got an answer to that. As I finished pumping my gas I heard him shouting through the thick green glass at the attendants, "Not those! The Harley Davidson ones!"

Why, he'd redeemed a $20 winner and was movin' on up... to the $5 games.

Man, I hope he wins the Harley. My imagination is going wild now! 11:36:33 AM    comment []trackback []