At the Gas n Sip

Well the summer heat is upon us and this year looks to be a pretty dry and hot one. I did my first evening ride last night with the group and I was not ready for the heat. 103 degrees when we rolled out and it was like my tires were baking into the pavement. I cut it short and headed back for a nice 25 mile loop and that was all I needed. On the way back about a mile from the finish I swung by a convenience store to grab a gatorade G2 (I make that distinction because the G2 is much better for you than the original-so if you go the gatorade route; make the switch) as i walk in and back to the cooler there is no one in line, on my way back up there's this guy standing there waiting for the lady to walk over to the register.

This guy at the register now represents my most hated adversary and chief pet peeve in a convenience store; lotto guy, he plays for cash. So this douche bag sees I'm walking up in a cycling kit carrying nothing but a gatorade and 2 one dollar bills in my hand. (which means my check out process should be pretty minimal depending on the intelligence level of the cashier of course which is called into question regularly) Said cashier walks over and sees my shopping agenda as well and this guy with a handful of cash and a couple of lotto tickets. He sees me, then turns to her for a truly great exchange, "I had gas, uh $30 i think um not sure which pump-so he's lookin' out the window eyeballin' it, seriously. She finds the amount on the register, he pays then says hey, can I cash these-this is when my bp starts to rise. uh does it win; no i will check, no on the first, no on the second, hey you won $4 (now they celebrate together) ok, um put that into one of these green ones and maybe an orange one...let's see, yeah two of those. I'm thinking shit; can i pay for my flippin' gatorade already while lotto guy is playing his stupid games? So at this point I've had enough and i said, "hey can I just leave my two dollars here-this is only a dollar forty eight." Not really a question, but an ultimatum on my part. "uh no, comes the bold reply, i kinda need to ring it up". "ok, so one of the red ones and did you say the pick 5 or the pick 6 or pick or what?"

Thanks I said and set the gatorade down and left. Remember that scene in High Fidelity where the guy grabs the phone off the counter and then slams it into Tim Robbins' face (another douche) and then jumps over the counter and its on? That's where I was mentally, but I went on my way muttering to myself.

I know we need the revenue, but seriously there are few things that make my blood boil worse than a degenerate lotto playing dip shit standing in line in front of me and buying tickets, scratching them off and then buying more. if you know you're going to spend 15 minutes scratching off game cards and buying more and enjoying your time at the register, do the rest of us a favor and let us pay and be on our way; we have better places to spend our time. Or even better, go home and play with yourself or gamble online, the rest of us don't want to watch you work for your retirement in line at the Valero. On a related side note; this is also why I refuse to buy gas anywhere where I cannot pay at the pump; because I have NO INTEREST in going into these places; but sometimes; especially when traveling and we need a soda or restroom, its unavoidable. I forgot to mention this guy was probably trying to make this experience last as long as possible as that was probably the closest he got to a woman that day.

Only thing I hate worse is smokers and of course lotto boy is usually seen exiting the quickie gas n sip and promptly picking up a cigarette off the ground as he goes on his way, so this guys loses with me comin' and goin'.

Anyway, here's to state lottery taxes.

Man it was a hot ride, when does winter start back up?