Hey, Maine Residents, Could You Please Stop Treating the Gas Station Like a Casino?

Let me start by saying this is in no way directed at people who redeem their scratchies, buy a couple more and go on their way.

This is directed at the people who treat the gas station like it's a literal casino.

I'm not sure why, but this scenario always seems to happen to me when I'm in a wicked hurry and there is a long line of people in front of me at the counter.

And, it happened to me again the other day.

I had just finished dropping the kids off at school and needed to swing by the gas station for a couple of things before heading home to jump on a meeting for work. I popped into the store, got my items, and headed for the counter. When I got up to the line, there were already about 4 people in front of me.

No biggie, it's the morning rush, what do you expect?

Well, the person at the front of the line was purchasing a few items as well as redeeming a handful of winning scratch tickets. Again, absolutely no problem with that at all. Good for you for winning!

The problem here is that after redeeming the winning tickets, the person stood there and surveyed the case of scratchies for what seemed like an eternity before finally selecting a few from the case.

Again, even that really isn't a problem, despite my need to be quick in the store.

The problem really became a problem when this person decided that they were going to scratch the new tickets right there at the counter.

Yes, you read that correctly.

This person decided that it would save (their own) time if they scratched off the new tickets right at the counter instead of stepping aside or going out to their car so others could cash out.

What seemed like forever was likely only 90 seconds to 2 minutes, but still, with several people in line behind this person, you would think maybe a little common sense and courtesy would have kicked in.

What's the reason for mentioning this you may be wondering? Well, this isn't the first time this has happened to me. It doesn't happen often, but it has happened enough times that I wanted to mention it.

So, to those people who treat the gas station checkout counter like it's an actual casino, please stop.

Sincerely,

people in a hurry.