In The Middle Of A War .....

Just when everything is going along swimmingly, you can find yourself in the middle of a war zone.  Such was the case at the Magic Kingdom of Elks Bingo last night.  The worst part is I never saw it coming!!

Being a former Property Tax Manager, I've dealt with lots of angry and maybe a little troubled people.  I'm usually pretty good at calming them down and diffusing the situation.  Such was NOT the case this time.

Everything started out nicely enough, the usual grandmothers, welfare mothers and retirees came to make their purchases.  Unfortunately, the Hot Ball pot of $1199 had been won the previous week, so our numbers were very low.  That should have been a sign!!

As the people came through the line, we dealt with the normal "I don't have that much money" (void everything out) and "wait, I'll get more" as she put her hand down her shirt and came up with a wad of cash, after pulling out her car keys and grocery shopping list.  Please carry a purse ladies.  There's nothing worse than handling damp money, which makes us run to the bathroom for double soap and lots of hot water.

Then there's the ones who can't hang up the phone long enough to pick their cards and pay.  They never get the right amount of cards and don't even think about digging out their money, causing a long uncomfortable pause in the line of people tapping their feet.  The noise level usually goes up several notches as they yell into the phone.

Still, it went okay until someone came to trade in their pull tabs, which we can't do.  Pull tabs are tickets you buy and pull off the little tab, kind of like a scratcher, to win $1 or $2.  If you BUY something, you can pay with them, but we're not supposed to give them cash back.  Therein lay the problem, waiting to jump out and attack me!

Long story short, she thought I didn't give her $2 in change, which she actually had in her hand as she slammed her fist on the table, screaming at the top of her lungs.  She created such a scene that the two police officers who work for us came to calm her down.  Finally, in an effort to quiet her, I just gave her the two tickets back.  She continued to rant!!

After a few minutes, she left the table, grumbling all the way, complaining to anyone that would listen!!  Thirty minutes later, she came back and apologized.  That was unexpected and appreciated.  In the end, two dollars isn't going to break us, but it will haunt me for a couple of days because I'm an accountant.  I should have been a Veterinarian!!

On a side note, I passed on the hamburger and hot dogs that give you indigestion for a week and went straight for the chili cheese fries!!  The huge stack of soggy french fries smothered in mediocre chili and American cheese weren't really all that tasty.  That's a good thing because I only ate half with NO resulting stomach ache.  I think we have a winner!!

Lots of errands to run today while setting up a railroad tour in Southern California and creating a master list of supplies required for the Relay For Life event this weekend where the Elks cook three big meals.  In between I'm going to meditate a lot and try to forget the lousy two dollars!!