A Missouri convenience store cashier made some pretty important purchases in the past few weeks. One purchase got her $500. The other? $1 million dollars.
Maryjane Hart sold herself a winning Powerball ticket last week, just one week after she sold herself a winning $500 Pick 4 ticket, according to ABC News.
“We’re just little common people here in a very poor community so this has been a very big deal to everybody here,” Hart said referring to her small hometown of 2,000 residents. “It’s the buzz of the town.”
Hart was not immediately aware of her amazing purchase. She was the owner of Hartland Pit Stop for 25 years prior to selling the store seven years ago. Currently, she works as a cashier on the weekends. She found out about the winning ticket after her ex-husband called her saying the winning ticket had been bought at the pit stop.
“I said, ‘Well I had bought some tickets that morning,’ and he said, ‘Well, maybe you ought to check them,’” she recalled.
After going to the nearest store to check her tickets, she was under the impression her winnings totaled $10,000.
Hart stopped at another convenience store to check just one more time. This time, instead of four zeros, she saw six.
“I still didn’t believe it until we got to the lottery office and the guy started shaking his head and said congratulations,” Hart said. “Then I knew it was real.”
It took Hart 30 minutes to convince her daughter she had actually won before Hart headed to the state lottery office in St. Louis.
Hart usually chooses NASCAR drivers’ numbers because of her love for the sport. However, last Saturday, she was in a rush and simply did quick pick numbers.
Thanks to those numbers, after tax, Hart can expect a $710,000 deposit into her bank account.
When asked if she would quit her weekday job at the Hometown Pharmacy Hart replied, “I’m bored if I don’t work. Anybody that knows me knows I’ll never quit working.”
