MYOB*

 

The other day, I was in a store and spent $4 on Power Ball – two plays. The store employee asked if I wanted two tickets or a single ticket. I indicated a single ticket would be fine. As I walked away, I said, “If I win the jackpot, you win too.”

Another customer who was leaving the store as I was leaving overheard my comment and said, “You’re crazy. If I win the jackpot, I’m not giving any to the store employee.”  I suppose that customer was in the dark on these matters. Retailers that sell a ticket that wins the top prize earns between 5% and 6% of the jackpot. The exact amount varies slightly from one state to the next, but it is capped at $1 million. The current Power Ball jackpot is a little over $1 billion. That’s a nice Christmas in July for a lucky customer and for the store owner. So, when I said to the store owner that he’ll win if I win, I wasn’t saying I was giving him part of my winnings. I was merely saying he automatically wins around 5% of the jackpot if my ticket is a jackpot winner.

I explained all of this to that customer. She was surprised. She had no idea. I won’t judge her too much, though. She’s probably not alone. I surmise many people don’t know this. Ordinarily I advocate for people to tend to their own affairs and stay out of mine. But by interjecting herself into my affairs, she learned something she otherwise might not have learned.

* MYOB = mind your own business, in case you didn’t know.