When Gloria C. Mackenzie claimed her $590.5 million Powerball jackpot, she released a statement revealing that another woman "was kind enough" to allow her to cut in line when she purchased the winning ticket.
That woman, Mindy Crandell, 34, is not upset that her charitable gesture likely cost her an enormous fortune and says "things are meant to be for a reason."
Crandell, of Zephyrhills, Fla., was in line to purchase lottery tickets in Publix on May 18 while tending to one of her two daughters when Mackenzie, 84, stepped in front of her.
"My 10-year-old said, 'Mom, There's a lady in front of us.' I noticed that the lady was there. Didn't pay a lot of mind to it," Crandall said.
The lady at the counter stopped Mackenzie to allow Crandell to reclaim her spot in line. Crandell declined the offer and told Mackenzie "go ahead. " It was a move that could have potentially cost the Crandells the $590.5 million Powerball ticket. Mackenzie purchased one Quick Pick ticket and left the store.
Crandell said family and friends began teasing her that the lady she allowed to cut in line was going to win the mega jackpot. But Crandell thought there was no way the lady was going to be the winner.
"The joke was, that's the lady that's going to win it. I was like, 'Yeah right. No one is going to win from little Zephyrhills,'" Crandell said.
Later that night, Mackenzie matched all five numbers including the Powerball while Crandell was at home still being teased by family members that the lady in the line was probably the winner. It was a joke that she would endure for the next two weeks.
When Mackenzie claimed the money on Wednesday, Crandell's 10-year-old daughter, Mallory, immediately recognized her from Publix.
"My daughter was like, 'Mom, look at the lady,'" Crandell said. "Same day, same store. What's the chances of that happening?"
Mackenzie has not disclosed her plans for the money. In a statement to ABC News, William P. Brant, Mackenzie's attorney, denied requests for an interview and said the family wants to "maintain their privacy."
Mackenzie has opted for the lump sum cash payout of $370.8 million, before taxes, instead of 30 annual payments of $19 million, a lottery official said.
Crandell holds no ill-will toward Mackenzie and hopes the money "truly blesses her family." The one thing Crandell did gain from the incident was a lesson she hopes her daughters learned.
"It could have been us, but things happen. Sometimes it's better to be patient than right. I knew we were teaching our daughter the right thing," Crandell said.
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it's good to know she has no regrets. Even if she didn't let the woman cut in front of her, I doubt she would have won. QPs generated a millisecond apart will be completely different.
Meh, she wouldn't of won anyway. Different numbers, different amount of lines.
You got it bro, I said the same in the other thread.
Well, depending on how it really happened, if she let an 84 year old cut in front of her out of respect, then she should be rewarded. The woman won an awful lot of money and, even if she gives millions to her family members and friends, will certainly have enough left to write another check. The story is a little confusing. Did the winner actually cut in front of Mrs. Crandell or did she step away for a second? I've been in Publix many times when the customer service people are very busy selling tickets and trying to handle their other duties. They go from register to register. Publix is a very large supermarket chain and each store usually has a separate area for the Lottery. Often customers go the the Customer Service Center to conduct other business and then want lottery tickets. If there's a line to buy lottery tickets, they usually do not get back in line.
In any case, since the winner acknowledged the young woman, she is probably planning to give her a "thank you" reward. I hope so. Otherwise, I don't know why she would even mention her.
I haven't had the chance to read your comment in the other thread. I got the idea from what Todd wrote explaining how QPs are generated.
Are you sure? I called the Lottery a long time ago (we've had this discussion before) and was told each machine generates its own sets of numbers. Yes, if she bought several tickets and #5 won, I'd agree. But she said she only bought 1 this time. Again, why mention it at all? It only stirs up debates like this and might create problems for her. If I won such a huge amound and truly believed it was because a nice person let me go first, then I would reward her.
I think that was the one where Todd said they are "seeded" so I picked up something from that as well.
Even if she had gotten the QP numbers instead there's no guarantee she would have won anyway.
you know she going to give her some of the money
I think that even though the lady Mindy C may not have won , She did the right thing and taught her daughter not to make a scene like some would have done . The lady that won should certainly reward her with a substantial amount to show she appreciated being allowed to go first . No one will ever know if that ticket would have went to the other lady or not . Just my thought on it .
What a class act Ms. Crandell
People who cut in line don't give rewards. The good Samaritan gets nothing.
No good deed goes unnoticed
Eternity is a very long time
What you do today will effect your destiny in the everlasting Kingdom of God forever.
The good you do today will add to your eternal reward and the evil you do today will diminish it.
What you do for Christ will last and what you do for yourself will pass.
The treasure you lay up in Heaven is forever and the treasure you lay up on earth is but for a moment.
every deed and every act is either good or evil.
We will give an account for every deed, every act and every word before the Throne of God.
our lives are continuously being weighed in the balance.
No good deed goes unnoticed or inspiring word forgotten, both are recorded in the book of remembrance.
This reminds me of the Albany Seven where the guy cut in front of him when he was reaching for a candy bar.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/lucky-albany-winners-319m-mega-millions-jackpot-claim-winnings-thanks-jerk-article-1.119176
https://www.lotterypost.com/news/229486
It's true she probably wouldn't have won. Quick Pick numbers aren't queued up waiting to be assigned.
Right, the woman was tending to her child and grandma took advantage of it so much so that the clerk brought it to her attention that the mom was ahead of her.
Well said. =]
It's amazing how so many people overlook this fact.
I suspect they know, but just don't want to admit it.
I knew all along she was a winner. I think this confirms it.
She definitely deserves 10%. Had I won all that loot, 10% would have easily gone her way-no question about it.
Not so fast Jammy, its also true that BECAUSE she cut in line her timing was RIGHT.
the results were opposite. With the Albany 7, someone cut in front of a guy and that guy who was cut in front of ended up buying the winning ticket.
In Florida, Mindy Crandell allowed Gloria Mackenzie to cut in front of her and Gloria Mackenzie won.
Is it better to let someone cut in front of you or for you to cut in front of someone else?
She wont give her a dime, but at 84 why not split it at the lottery office?
she cut in front. This will be the last time somebody cuts in front of me or it will be on like donkey kong!!!
Perhaps you should consider doing a little cutting of your own?
WB, I said this reminds me of the Albany Seven.
Check out the new video posted on the original news story - https://www.lotterypost.com/news/262064
very nice thanks for the video jay's Funny
Awesome video's.
I hope only good things come that lady's way.
She is not entitled to anything. Can you imagine the lawsuits this would generate as well for future winners? People claiming they were allegedly in line with the winner and let them cut ahead, or let them take a better parking space so they could get into the store sooner, etc. Random numbers are random.
Like I said, she will have an excuse for not giving her a dime. (my attorney said not to)
"Quick Pick numbers aren't queued up waiting to be assigned."
It's amazing how so many people overlook this fact.
I suspect they know, but just don't want to admit it.
And some need to hear it multiple times.
Funny, I didn't notice anyone overlook this fact Jammy. Do you ever feel like a lost soul Jammy?
Yea no kidding. And if I were her and decided to give the woman a little money, I would have her sign a confidentiality and non disclosure agreement saying she would have to return the money if she disclosed it publicly. If not, this lottery winner is going to make things more difficult for a lot of future lottery winners.
what if someone held the door open for her , then the other lady let her in front of here , then she wins the Lottery she made out like a bandit that day
MADDOG was right they smart
God bless ole people they can get full service anytime
Why do you always make the assumption that other people are less intelligent than you are Jammy?
The whole point of the story is that the timing CHANGED and she won because of it.
Better to be polite and poor than rich and famous, "Yeah,Right"
I have to agree with that. She has something money can't buy...!
This is not a question of intelligence. John Allen Paulos made this very clear in his book on Innumeracy in 1988.
If you and several others here "understood" how Quick Picks are generated, you would not persist in giving the "appearance" of a lack of intelligence by claiming the winner owes the other person anything. I think your biggest problem is that this huge jackpot was won with a Quick Pick, when you believe the winning set can be selected from a subset of 28 numbers.
I recently posted in another thread on RNGs. Look it up.
--Jimmy4164
After hearing this, I'm willing to bet everything I love that no one's ever gonna let anyone cut in front of them anymore to get a lotto ticket.
With the assumption that rng's at all terminals that seel PB are continuously outputting combinations,wouldn't it be safe to say that had the clerk hit the button to print a QP a macro-second later,wouldn't that she would not have won to begin with.?
I mean as far as RNG's's go,do number combinations hang in limbo in terminals till someone wants a qp or is the terminal perpetually cycling combinations?
Again you make false assumptions Jammy. People don't need to look up your information because even novice lottery players know that the QP numbers are NOT "queued up" and waiting in line for purchase. You are completely stupid in thinking that people are that stupid. Did you take stupid classes or something? I only ask because I actually feel sorry for you at this point in time. I have never met such a simpleton before.
I think its safe to say that most people realize that they perpetually cycle like a slot machine RNG does.
I let people cut anytime, regardless of the situation.
Pffft. Yeah right.
Call me cynical but I don't believe this little contrivance for a second.
24 hours later and this woman is in the news more than the actual winner. Why? She is milking this for her 15 minutes of fame and possibly hope that the real winner will feel bad enough to give her a cut. Either way, she's getting her little notoriety as being the person who did NOT win. Really?
She's been making the rounds to a whole lot of different stations. Getting a whole lot of media buzz. So puh-lease.
I am not a fan of media-whores. Move it along and continue on with on with your wife. You didn't win nor were you going to win.
I once had a person cut in front of me to buy five scratch-offs because he had just brought ten losers and was sure a winner were in the next five. It turn out there were fifteen losers in a row and I bought the next $50 winner. I didn't mind him cutting in front of me because I knew him from work and winning $50 make it even better.
I've even had superstitious players insist I go before them, which I don't mind since I make out play slips and get the same numbers regardless.
I agree. I smell a big rat with this woman and a bad future precedent for claims against future lottery winners. Something is not right with her.
i say roll the footage so we can get to the bottom of this real story
Some years ago, there was a huge JP and a lottery pool at particular workplace. The guy assigned to buy the tickets that day, went to a newstand to make the purchase. Someone cut in front of him in the line, and he didn't want to make a scene so he let the guy go ahead and purchase the tickets. Then he purchased his.
He was the one who won the JP and split millions with his coworkers.
Everyone laughed and said if the guy hadn't cut ahead of him, he wouldn't have been able to get the winning numbers.
Now, as far as I know, the numbers are continuously generated and not just sitting in a queue, so it wouldn't have mattered either way. He just happened to get the winning numbers.
But for those who believe the numbers are lined up in a queue, then the guy who cut in front of him lost out. So here you have a person who cut ahead and lost, and another person who cut ahead and won. You just can never tell.
True....BUT if I was the winner.....what's a million or two...to say thanks-we would never know if the other woman would have won...I would draw up a contract though that she couldn't say anything to the media
I have ALWAYS been the good samaritan type myself AND I' am also aware that there was a chance the numbers wouldn't have been the same had she not allowed the woman to cut in line, HOWEVER, I can't help but feel I after reading this story if I'd ever feel the same way again when it comes to purchasing lottery tickets.....No more cuttin in line ahead of ME..As Si Robertson would probably say, "You better jump back JACK!" hehee
I can only hope the woman would reward her. I know I certainly would but like Ronnie mentioned in an earlier response, if she's the type that would cut in line,( if that's what really happened)..then there's a chance she might be the type that wouldn't even reward her.
I'm sure if she doesn't do something for her, she can expect to get a lot of backlashing, but I would hope she would do it for the right reasons.
Now l know why my Jackpot didn't roll over to one billion dollars because of these two clowns at publixs hope they don't mess with my next Billion dollars .lol
Did you read thewhole story, or just thumb through the comments?
This is what the lady at the lottery counter said to Mrs McKenzie:
"The lady at the counter stopped Mackenzie to allow Crandell to reclaim her spot in line. Crandell declined the offer and told Mackenzie "go ahead. " It was a move that could have potentially cost the Crandells the $590.5 million Powerball ticket. Mackenzie purchased one Quick Pick ticket and left the store."
What from this story does not sound right to you?
1. RNGs are generated for lottery tickets, especially one the size of Powerball that has a zillion combinations, just like the RNG with a slot machine. A set of numbers is "stopped" like a slot machine at the very nano-second that the clerk hits the Print button.
2. I think this woman is looking for her 15 minutes as well. I mean really? Is the person in the deli that was waiting after the old lady in line complaining? Maybe you should blame the seafood guy for him weighing out the old lady's mahi-mahi for timing it out properly. I agree that this will set a very dangerous precedent.
3. Scratch offs, whereas it stinks that the person lost 10 in a row, those are static, where timing and the amount of tickets bought could affect a particular winning sum since these are in fact pre-printed.
This whole story sickens me. It could very well have been someone on the other end of the country that was in line at that exact moment that would have hit the RNG to prove the winning ticket, AND THEN - would have to be lucky enough for the Powerball drums to push out the exact 1 in a gazillion combinations to have you win that jackpot. This is so bogus it's not even funny.
This very well could be true.....but I hope Ms. Mckenzie's memory is still good enough to remember if this was the same lady.
If this is not the woman AND/OR if the story she is giving is not how everything took place, I'd be one ticked off RICH old lady.
Poor Mindy Crandell. The way I see it is that some over enthusiastic reporter hounded her to give a statement about the whole thing. Now she is being suspected of having sly intentions. Perhaps Mindy should have said "no comments" and also refused to have her picture with her daughter taken.
I was referring to her vast number of media appearances etc and if you look carefully, I checked the post comment to which I was replying.
Okay, but here is the thing. Even if she allowed this woman to go ahead of her in the line...so what?
You don't think it's just a tad bit odd for a person who didn't actually win to milk the media the way she has, and giving constant interviews like she's a freakin' celebrity?
I know more about this woman than about the person who actually won!
Why?
Why is it so important to her to let everyone think that her good Samaritan act cost her the winning ticket.
So the daughter recognized the woman as the person who cut ahead (and even that is a bit farfetched. I let people go ahead of me all the time, a month later I couldn't tell you what they looked like. But I'll concede that point for the sake of argument), after the daughter said that's the woman who cut ahead, how does it go from that to 24 hours of nonstop interviews?
It's as if she went from recognizing the woman to calling up every news station she could find so she could tell her story of how she missed the big one.
That's just waaaaaay too much attention seeking in my book. She wants fame and she wants to be given some of that money. Make no mistake about it.
TRUE!
Well said!
omg that show is so funny,
Lizard Lick towing guy's would say (you just got Licked)
Really?
How would the reporter have known about this story in the first place? Did someone get a copy of the Publix video surveillance for that time, saw the old lady cut ahead and tracked Mindy down to get her story?
I think not.
This could be a shoutout to the winner by saying " Hey don't forget about me, the loser who allowed you to go ahead".
She should have kept her mouth shut.
Last night on WGN-TV news (before the real person was known) they said that 6,721 people had already claimed to be the person that let the winner go ahead of them.
As for the winner gettig the winning ticket, Kurt Vonnegut would have simply said, "That moment in time was structured that way."
It's classic BS.No one knew about them until they decided to expose their stupidity on national television. You not the winner- get over it.
Did the press go looking for this " do gooder" or did they force themselves into the limelight?
I'd like a definitive answer to that as well. We may know how a RNG generally operates, whether it is a software pseudo-random number generator(PRNG) or a hardware random number generator(RNG), taking into account system time, noise sources, oscillators, etc. But does anyone actually know what the lottery terminal software actualy uses for quick picks? If it's a PRNG, is it seeded for every pick, or only periodically?
It would be great if a reporter would ask a lottery official point blank: would it have made a difference, would the other lady have gotten those same numbers or not? They may waffle, but at least ask the question. They seem to enjoy the buzz and uncertainty and additional media coverage from this secondary issue.
Keep in mind, their goal is not perfect randomness for quick picks. This is not for high speed Gigabit cryptography and high security. Its just generating a few digits every few seconds. We know they like rollovers, they count on it. So you could say poor number coverage and lots of overlap is in their best interests. So just for this fact, I reserve final judgement until a definitive answer is presented.
I agree. How about the guy who cut her off while driving earlier that day? Every single event that took place before she bought the ticket plays a role. Does it mean that the guy who cut her off is entitled to a slice of her money? How about her neighbor that talked to her earlier that day? She delayed her arrival at Publix for several minutes or seconds at just the right time. How about those who already parked their cars at Publix before she arrived. Those people forced her to park at a different location, again delaying her arrival for several seconds at just the right time. Are these people entitled to anything?
What if I buy a winning scratch off ticket and win a million dollars? Does it mean that everybody who bought the ticket from the same roll before me is entitled to a share?
People are looking way too much into this thing. It is just pure coincidence that she won. It doesn't have any meaning.
Yep
I agree. Those are excellent questions I'd like the answers for. Just for the sake of information gathering.
But as for this particular situation, I still don't care what the answer is.
All this is is a big bunch of "what ifs".
What if the kids had gotten out of the car quicker?
What if she hadn't had to stop at a red light?
What if there hadn't been a gap in the line?
What if she hadn't turned away for so long that little old lady was able to get in front of her without her realizing?
What if a voice had come to her in the night and told her which numbers to play?
what if...what if...what if...
I'm sure you'll also hear that someone always plays PB at that Publix every day at that specific time and for whatever reason, he missed that day. Or someone else ALWAYS plays those numbers but on that one day they decided to try a new set of numbers instead.
I just don't care. Tough luck. On that day, the little old lady got lucky and Mindy didn't. She can stop with the celebrity media tour now.
Yeah I thought about that too lol
hey where is the post about? (I called the Lottery a long time ago (we've had this discussion before) and was told each machine generates its own sets of numbers)
thx
We know they like rollovers, they count on it. So you could say poor number coverage and lots of overlap is in their best interests.
If this is true, if they did this on purpose, then they are cheating and whoever supervised the lottery shouldn't have allowed it. But since we don't know all the facts, let's hope that this is not true.
Mom.... I'm going to punch you in the Esophagus If you don't shut up...........
Exactly!
Yes, also true, but the woman who won should have kept her mouth shut. Of course everyone is going to say "I'm the one!" Once I found a $20 on the floor in the supermarket. I walked up to customer service and asked if someone was looking for lost money. Should I have shouted out "Anyone drop this $20 bill?" I shopped for a while and, when I checked out, I decided the best thing to do was to drop it into the Salvation Army bucket on the way out the door. (it was that time of year)
OTOH, people should not cut in line because they feel entitled for a variety of reason. I live in Florida and see it all the time. I have friends who are disabled and they wait their turns.
I don't know how 6,721 people can claim to be that person. Each ticket is stamped with the time of purchase, plus there are video cameras all over the store. I don't usually buy quick picks anyway, but I am looking at my Florida Lottery tickets and one reads 19:07:28 and the other 19:07:32
Crandell allowed the winner to go ahead and play.She should not expect anything, and if she is- then her parading around on tv is one big lie with the " no regrets statement"
The problem l have with situations like these are if Gloria cut her a check for $50, 000- Crandell may comment on it and the next thing you know, people will say she should have got at least $5 mil.
Yes, lady tell your cheesy story because people love cheesy stories. Maybe she doesn't have any regrets, but cheesy stories like the one she just told is the one people prefer to hear. I remember when the guy in NY said he was pushed out of the line by another person. He and his co workers won the big prize while the other guy didn't win anything. I don't see too many folks letting anyone skip while in line after this story.
I posted about this in my earlier post.
FYI he wasn't pushed.
Funny you should mention this! I was in Publix just an hour ago and went into the liquor store. There is never a line there, but most people don't realize it also has a Lottery machine (although not every store has a separate liquor shop) Anyway, the man behind the counter said he thinks Crandell should get $5 million. The winner is 84 and I'm guessing will meet her maker in the next 10-15 years, so I hope she does what's right. She was living in a crummy duplex in Zephyrhills and is now very, very wealthy.
I've been a member for many years. I have no idea where or when we discussed this. At my age, I'm lucky I remember how to get home. LOL
Anyway, according to the Florida Lottery spokesperson, I am wrong. I admit it!
Maybe things have changed or they're different with Powerball. In any case, he said that just changing positions in line would have resulted in different numbers being generated by the time the ticket was printed. So I guess we will never know if she would have won. In any case, it's ironic that a woman was rude and is being rewarded, and so many people are defending her. It's happened to me many times. I've been in front of the line buying my tickets and someone in back of me will shout "Gimme 2 Powerball tickets!" I don't even buy PB tickets most of the time anyway, but that's not my point. However, this does change things a bit.
David Bishop from the Florida Lottery told the New York Times that "if there was even a millisecond difference in the time between key strokes at the terminal, the numbers would have been different."
Good to see you post Nancy. Hope you are doing ok.
I said it when the JP got really big, that whoever won it should be prepared for people coming out of the woodwork to stake some kind of claim.
I don't believe for a second that Mindy is doing this media blitz because she thinks it's a cute story that needs sharing. She's doing this to give subtle pressure, and definitely to get public opinion weighing in, saying she deserves some of the money, just like is happening here now.
If one of her kids told this story on FB and the media got hold of it, I could get that. But the world only found out about Gloria being the winner yesterday afternoon. 2:15pm. And in just a few short hours later, there is Mindy giving interviews about how she let Gloria go in front of her and Gloria won. Yeah, if it was no big deal, we would not be seeing her interviews. The rest of us would probably have told this as a cute little story to our family and friends, groaned a few times and had a couple of laughs. We wouldn't be holding press conferences.
This quote kills me...
"The joke was, that's the lady that's going to win it. I was like, 'Yeah right. No one is going to win from little Zephyrhills,'" Crandell said.
Uhh hello moron, you're in FLORIDA, the state with the highest per capita number of lottery winners in the US.
I could see someone saying that if they're playing from Montana, but definitely not Florida.
Same here, justx, good to see you posting.
Re those '6,721' people.
Those prone to slinging baloney never stop to think about things like time date stamps on tickets.
Or consider certain baseball and football games when something really odd or exciting happens. Say a stadium holds about 58,000 people. But as the years go by a couple of million will swear to have been at that game.
Had the clerk sneezed just before she hit the button, the old lady wouldn't have won. That sneeze would have cost her 590 million dollars
Why are you assuming that Gloria cut in to be rude?
The way those Publix customer service counters are set up it's very easy to cut in front of someone without even knowing you did it.
Some people like to leave a gap in the line to let customers pass by instead of having them go around them. Even worse is when they leave that gap, and then start browsing at things displayed nearby while they wait. It's easy for others to overlook that person, or to see them but assume they are shopping, not waiting, and just go right up to the counter.
If Mindy's daughter had to point out to Mindy that someone cut in front of them, then Mindy definitely wasn't paying attention and most likely had turned away which is why she didn't see Gloria until her kid let her know.
If there's a significant enough space between her and the counter, and she's turned away from the counter to deal with one of her kids, how was Gloria to know she was waiting for service?
That's not rude. Publix. I've done it before. Others have done it to me before. It's always an honest mistake and whoever is in line usually says: it's okay, go ahead.
It has nothing at all to do with rudeness or being inconsiderate. It's only an issue now because Gloria won and she didn't.
Funny, we all seem to be missing the main point. What really matters is not how, why or where you pick your numbers, but how the drawing itself is conducted. The tickets we buy do not influence the numbers drawn as much as the drawing itself can inadvertently screw up your best laid plans.
That may comes across as somewhat convoluted but when you functioning at a higher brain output-it makes perfect sense.
I doubt anyone is missing this point. I think the difference is that everyone has a clear understanding of how the numbers are drawn, but there seems to not be a clear understanding of how the machines pick the QP numbers. So that's probably why it's being discussed.
I need to go back and read my posts, since I don't think that's what I said. If I did, I apologize, since that's not exactly what I meant to write. I've wandered into a line by accident. However, if someone pointed out to me that I cut in front of her, I would move back.
In any case, that wasn't my point. It's just that everyone is saying "the numbers would have been different" which is true according to a Lottery spokesperson. However, doesn't that mean Gloria also wouldn't have won? Why is it a one-way street? No matter how you look at this story, the winner was exactly at the right place at the right time down to a fraction of a second. Why? Because she cut in front of someone, accidentally or not, and that person politely let her.
Not sure how i feel about letting the lady cut in line; however this is my rule...I always feel bad for people WHO ARE NOT LOTTERY PLAYERS..and get stuck behind me so I will usually let them go ahead of me; for some reason i can sense a lottery player a mile away and under no circumstances will I allow them to cut...just my opinion..
Your post reminded me of this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ea0mG4ahRk
Some people here are acting as if when you stand in line to buy lottery tickets a temporary partnership is assumed if you or the person in front or back of you wins a jackpot.
It's as silly as bums loitering around the counters of stores selling lottery tickets when the jackpots get high telling customers "remember me if you win".
Hi, RJOh! I agree with you to a point. I can't speak for everyone, but I was talking about a sense of right and wrong, not an assumed partnership. I don't even like buying tickets for friends. In fact, I had a problem last year when a man from whom I rented asked me to buy some PB tickets. He even gave me the money and said we'd split the prize if he won, no strings attached. It's hard to explain, but I just didn't want to get involved. I did buy the tickets, but I told him I wouldn't do it again.
What I keep thinking is that the winner would never have gotten those specific numbers if the timing were different. After I read more and realized that the numbers picked change in a fraction of a second, I also realized that neither women would have won had the conversation continued an extra 5 seconds. Still, although I cannot speak for Gloria Mackenzie, I would be very, very grateful to Mindy Crandell.
Another scenario - let's say Mindy got her own attorneys and, after viewing the surveillance tape, they decided she had a good case. Of course it is a bearer instrument, and even a Lottery spokesperson said the numbers change in a millisecond, but remember the case of 83 year old Edward Saint John vs Kevin Donovan? Even if the law is on your side, someone can make your life pretty miserable, and Ms Mackenzie doesn't have a lot of years ahead of her.
I guess one reason I'm having a difficult time with this whole subject matter is that I cannot imagine having that much money so it's a lot easier for me to giver hers away. LOL Still, I think I'd have too much guilt if I didn't do something for the Crandell family.
We know that 70 to 80% of tickets sold are QP's, and we know that multiple winners are rare when jackpots are small. When small jackpots do result in multiple winners it's frequently because the winning numbers are birthday numbers, and the multiple winners chose their own numbers. Because the number of multiple winners is pretty close to what probability suggests we can be certain that QP's are sufficiently random.
Are any of these storys true. This is from the USA Today. Read the last paragraph.
Amazing that her friends and family were teasing her with a joke that the lady who stepped in front of her would win...and then it actually happened! So nowhere in this story does it say the 84 year old woman would give the mom of 2 who she stepped in front of some money for her generosity. If this lady doesn't make any attempt to track her down and give her some money, that wouldn't be nice at all!
I hope the 84 year old woman does the right thing and shares some of her winnings with the woman who allowed her to step in front of her. If someone told me I can go in front of them and then I won that amount of money i'd donate a mininum of $25 Million to that person.
when your 84 maybe you can't see to good or hear, i know she can't remember one day to the next
This whole story is starting to sound like one be scam to me to get some of Gloria and her son's money.
In her statement from an earlier story here at LP, Gloria C. Mackenzie said "While in line at Publix, another lottery player was kind enough to let me go ahead of them in line to purchase the winning Quick Pick ticket."
Then this woman, Mindy Crandell comes forward and has a press conference to say she didn't get upset when Gloria cut in front of her to buy the winning ticket.
Now we learn it was a man that allowed Gloria to go in front him to buy the winning ticket.
If this Mindy is telling the truth, she should have some PB tickets with the time stamped within seconds of the winning ticket from the same terminal. If she doesn't then she is just running a scam thinking public pressure will force Gloria and her son to share their jackpot with her or prove she's a liar.
i didnt know, letting someone in line, came with conditions attached. maybe i should stand in the line at lotto letting people in all day.
this makes me proud to be an American
I've read the article HelpMeWin posted from a newspaper clipping that states McKenzie said a man let her cut in line, but I've also read several articles on the net where McKenzie is grateful to Mindy, woman.
Your not afraid that it would cause lawsuits all over the country every time a jackpot is won?
Publix have surveillance cameras that can easily go back to the date and time to see who really let Gloria Mackenzie go ahead. Plus the exact day and time is on the ticket so it wont take their cctv security 2 minutes to go back to that very moment. Until they come forth with that we wont really know if it was this woman or a man. You cant really trust the media they get things wrong all the time but an uncut video recording tells it all.
Personally speaking if I was the winner and someone let me go ahead of them.I would care less about how the qps are generated and just blest that person anyway.it takes a selfish person to negatively analyze this and say"well she wouldnt have won anyway because the tickets change every 3 seconds blah blah blah so on and so forth"I would go to publix supermarket management to pull the tapes and ask the person to come forth and use my recollection and the video take to confirm his or her identity.Then I would give that person at least 4 million dollars.
I have given people on Lp money as a gift for helping me hit on c3 and p4 when I first started playing.and I am not talking about the clown on here that charge people for numbers on his "subscribers list".I am not dumb you wont make that money off of me.anyway.I hope Mrs. Mackenzie put her money to good use and truly bless that person that she either attempted to cut or just let her go ahead!
We "understand" more than you think we do Jammy.
Your post reminded me of this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sf79TauPoY
That's what I was thinking, Ronnie.
There will probably br some creeps who don't even intend to buy a ticket that will stand in lines just to let people go in front of them, hoping that person will be a winner too.
Open your eyes to the truth Jammy.
i was joking, but if you let 100 people in a day, and they spend $100 ea thats like 1000 free tickets. personally the reward for being nice is knowing you are ncie and the thank you you recieve. what ever happens its upto the old broad, and what she wants to do. not for us to judge. lets get on with us wining our own jackpots and leave the old lady in peace.
She can't give anyone 10 percent because 45 percent gift tax will kick in. And ten percent is like $59,000,000 lol
Makes no difference, that would be true in an alternate universe comic story line.
Gloria Mackenzie won a huge jackpot, banked about quarter-billion $$ after taxes, because Mindy Crandell's actions allowed her to be spread with some magic pixiedust, putting her at just the right place at just the right time.
She's not legally obligated to do a <snip> thing, but the right thing to do is pay off every penny of debt the Crandell's may have, including mortage; establish a trust fund that is enough to pay for four years of the daughter's college education, pay for a two-week vacation anywhere in the world the family wants to go, buy the family a new vehicle of their choosing, and pay a cash reward of at least $250,000.
If there's tax penalties involved by overdoing the gift $$ amount, so what; pay that too.
If I won a jackpot of that size because someone let me ahead of them in line, putting me in the magic zone, that'd be the bare minimum I'd do for that individual.
Would it be easier to split the ticket and let her pay her own bills?
MPM............
>>>>>>but, ah law group would 
at 10% offer
<<<<<<but, they would gree2>90%
of gross jackpot (before tax)>&>gladly $ettle 4>>50%
(after tax jackpot estimate$)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"BIG PROBLEM"
WELCOME 2D "BIG" MONEY "WORLD"
This wasn't an instant ticket purchase. It was a computer generated quick pick. Split
seconds mean everything when tickets are selling at an incredible rate in so many
states. The place in line DOES NOT matter. The exact time of purchase means every-
thing. I hope the mother of 4 isn't trying to strike a sympathetic nerve because she
wouldn't have won. It's the timing not the place in line. She could have kept her place
in line and not won a darn thing...stop to pick up something dropped, wait for a clerk
to process your purchase, ask for an instant ticket before asking for a quick pick,
grab a kid that's wandering away...all these things happen in an instant but mean
everything in the nano second world of Powerball ticket sales. One deviation in
right place, EXACT time is the difference between winner and loser, not the line
place.
In my universe people are generous in extraordinary ways.
Each terminal is independent of all the other terminals dr. Just sayin.
Sure, maybe, but what does it matter? The lawyers/financial trust people will do all the heavy lifting and grunt work.
Right, she is 84. Does she really want her last act on earth to be one of greed and selfishness?
I get that.
The terminal games are so unlike instants...let someone in line before you and they buy the instant you were going to buy
and they win, then it's a I LET THEM IN LINE BEFORE ME story.
There is no I let them go before me and they won involved here...just in their own silly mind. Try explaining that to the loser,
they'll never get it.
i'm sure she will not be the first trying to get something
the letters will soon be coming to the ole lady
Even though the machine probably would have picked out a different ticket, if it was me, I probably would have still given the young lady a half a million or even a million just for the hell of it regardless. It was that young woman's act that made it possible for the lady to have ultimiately benefited.
JBL>>>>>>
At this point because, we can LOOK<<<BACX<<<BUT,
WE can't look FORWARX>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>BUT,
THANK GOD>>"I"^^^^THINK^^^^this 84>>>>>>
should have WON ^^^^THIS$ ^^^^JACKPOT^^^^^
maybe a Fun day @ Disney World might make everyone Happy
Hope this don't change people from being Nice to others
sure you can go ahead of me anytime
Yea, Every Gloria Mackenzie in the world will be getting letters and phone calls from Jamaica.
I like to hear a story about where someone goes in to the store in a bit of a hurry because they are on Lunch break stay with me here i try not to make this as long as joshuacloak and they ask someone may i please go ahead of you i am in abit of a hurry because you see i am on my Lunch break and i only have so long say 15 minutes and the people all say ,no , no mama, no way , wait you turn lady, one person was really rude and said hell NO, so waiting patiently in line of about 10 people finally the person got to the counter and forgot they had left the play slip in the car so instead they made a quick decision to say i will take a quick pick i guess, and the next day they checked their numbers and sure enough low and behold they are now the proud winners of 50 million dollar jackpot, God sees everything
Why can't people be good for goodness sake? If I were the person who let her bought the ticket first, I wouldn't go public and keep quiet. If the media found me for some reason, I would let her know that I am happy that she won but I would not accept any reward.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quite frankly I'm getting sick of this "right thing to do"... "Gloria owes Mindy some of the JP" and "it would be selfish of her not to share" crapola.
In the first place, everyone is ASSUMING that Mindy's story is the truth. There have been so many variations on the story that it's already mindboggling.
1. I've seen it said that a person allowed Gloria to go ahead. I know I've done this many times. You're not in any hurry and an old lady comes up to the line, you tell them to go ahead of you...because well, they're old.
2. It's been said that she cut the line (intentionally or not, we still don't know) but Mindy didn't mind and let her go ahead
3. A woman let her go ahead (we don't know if it's Mindy)
4. It was a man who let her go ahead.
There are too many stories for me to just take Mindy's word for it without evidence. Remember that fast food worker who claimed to have the winning ticket last year? It was one huge hoax. Then there's the guy who showed up hours before the deadline to claim a JP, but left when he couldn't answer any of the verification questions. People do or say a lot of sh*t when there's a lot of money involved.
A really selfless person actually okay with the end result wouldn't have done the media blitz to let the world know that if it had not been for her kindness Gloria wouldn't have won. Not to mention that she certainly hasn't used words/phrases that say it's a-ok. Instead of saying she let Gloria go first, she keeps saying Gloria cut in front of her and even her daughter pointed out that Gloria cut ahead of her. So now the public forms an opinion that Gloria must be one of those mean old women who don't think they have to wait in line.
I'm not for a second buying this Aw-shucks-Good-Samaritan-shoulder-shrugging act. She knows exactly what she's doing, and what she's doing is shoring up public support to say Gloria should give her some of the money. And guess what...that's exactly what's happening.
If she gives Mindy nothing, she's selfish and mean. If she gives Mindy something, they'll be another debate that it isn't enough. No matter what, Gloia is in a lose-lose situation. Mindy has nothing to lose and everything to gain from this, and that alone gives me a reason to pause.
i've lived in florida and the old people there are rude and cut in line all the time. they don't like to wait and usually feel entitled because old people are a majority. kind of treat younger people like slaves. it's frustrating to be treated so rudely.
Whether you are standing in line or giving someone a ride, there should be no conditions attached when you are being kind. I usually don't like to talk about this, since doing nice things for people should be something private, not boasted about, but I do nice things for people all the time. I'm sure most of us do. Is there a price to pay? Sometimes there is. I've been going through this dilemma lately because certain neighbors are always asking me (and others) for rides or a few bucks and they are getting on my nerves. Sometimes it is best to just say "no." We don't need to explain why.
Since the ticket is a bearer instrument and Gloria bought the winning ticket, she is legally entitled to the money. Only she knows exactly what happened. I often talk too much so I am not judging her, but she should have kept her mouth shut and never mentioned the other person in line.
It doesn't matter legally, but as I said in another post, it would bother me a lot. I admit it. Sure a tiny fraction of a second could change everything, and letting someone cut in front has little effect on the results, but it would still bother me if the lady who cut in front of me won. If things were turned around, maybe Ms Mackenzie would be the lady in the article saying "I let Mrs. Crandell cut in front of me." Who knows? In any case, Gloria should have kept her mouth shut unless she planned on sharing. Then nobody would be the wiser. I am not sure we've heard the last of this story.
We don't know if Ms Mackenzie was rude or accidently wandered into the line. I am 62, so I am not a spring chicken by any means, but I agree that people can be very rude. Ironically, the people who are on vacation seem to be the ones who are in a rush.
However, I don't think young people are treated "like slaves" unless you are talking about the low wages and lack of benefits in Florida, but we old folks don't have it any better.
I was standing in the checkout line in a clothing outlet called Beall's when an elderly lady was trying to get her money back for a return. She bought something with a check the day before and the cashier kept explaining she had to wait 7 days or take a store credit. The lady called her stupid, useless and I finally stepped in to give her a piece of my mind (not that I can spare any of it!) Her excuse was that she's old and sickly and can't keep driving back & forth to the store. Well, then she should have paid cash or used a credit card, but rules are rules. This mean old lady caused a young girl to break down and cry. Finally the manager walked over and talked to her, but I wanted to slap the nasty woman.
However, don't just blame elderly people, Jeffrey. I worked in retail in Florida for years and working with the public can be very difficult. I've been called a word that rhymes with strut because a delivery was late. I had trouble with young rich people, old rich people, Black people, White people, Hispanic people.... you get my point. People often use their age, race, money and other excuses for being rude.
Not with me, are they rude. I'm 71 years old and don't mind telling them to go to the rear. We have a couple of old timers that call there off there numbers instead of filling out play slips. Then they make a mistake and the clerk has to re-enter the numbers. There's a sign above the machine. I don't mind pointing it out. Whenever I see Powerball tickets beneath the glass top, where the clerks put them, when some idiot makes a mistake and don't want them. I always ask the clerk, why didn't you tell them how much the ticket was going to cost, before you printed them. The clerks have to eat those tickets if they aren't sold. I don't know if the woman allowed the winner to cut in line or not, but if the circumctances were reverse and it was me. I, sure as hell would remember that person who allowed me to cut in line and he/she/they would be compensated fairly, common sense.
yeah for me the reward of doing something nioce, is seeing the person smile and say thank you.
Unfortunately savage, in this country, a lot of people were not taught any manners, especially the younger generation!!
WBZ>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>WITCH>>>>>>>>>>>>>UUUUUUUUUU>>>completely!!!!!!
BUT,...................??????????? witch person can U TRUST complet?!
Nice Lady......????????
Daughter......????????
DARE LAWYER'$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$?!
Knock'g on 'D' GREEN DOOR nice lady!
???????????????????????????????????
can U really trust 84 yr ole JP winner?
People can be rude, young or old. It's not a blanket statement that applies to all Florida' seniors.
I was in Costco once & had a lot to check out. I let 2 (separate) elderly people go in front of me; one even told me she was okay waiting but I told her it was no problem, she only had a few items, no need for her to wait. After I insisted 3 times, she thanked me and then went ahead.
After that, I decided, no more cuts because my feet were killing me (I have flat feet and long periods of standing leads to intense pain). Then another old lady and her friend came behind me, I saw they didn't have much, but my feet were throbbing by that point. I figured I wouldn't volunteer, but if they asked I would let them go ahead of me.
But instead of asking, the both of them started badmouthing me to each other; talking loud enough so they knew I would hear, making statements about how inconsiderate I was, and how the young people today have no respect for the elderly etc etc etc.
Now, had she bothered to ask, pain or no pain, I would have said yes. But since she opted instead to insult me, I figured her a$$ could wait until I was done.
In the span of 20 minutes, I had an example of a very considerate elderly person who didn't feel she was entitled to cut in and one that was a b*tch.
I'm not going to paint all of them as saints, or all of them as rude. It's person by person. But as rude as that senior was, she didn't try to cut the line. It's just not something I have ever seen in Florida. Never intentionally.
And I lived there for almost 2 decades. Worked in Palm Beach aka God's waiting room; gray and blue hair as far as the eye can see.
If Gloria Mackenzie gave Mindy Crandell as much as $1, Crandell's lawyers would use it as an admission that she was somehow responsible for the outcome, and demand half. This would prompt the person in front of Mackenzie in line to call for a 3-way split because he or she left sooner than planned to allow an old lady to proceed. And the clerk could claim... Watch "Run Lola Run."
The tickets were randomly generated. The only person eligible for the prize, legally and morally, is the purchaser of the winning ticket!
GARBOB & JEFFER>>>>>>>>>>beware of Psyko>>>>>>>>>2053>>>>>>!!!!!!!
No One will cut in front of Psyko in Floradi!
remember??????????????:Psyko baught D
"SMART" car & I'm tak'g it 2 FLORADI
WHEN i RETIRE IN 2053>>>>>>>>>IN MEANWHILE>>>>>>>>>>don'T>>>>>KNOCK<<<<<<MY "SMART" CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!
how you know you car is smart
Maybe this is more of an East coast thing and while I have often waived people with just an item or two or someone elderly to go ahead of me, I do not like some arrogant person telling me her (sorry but it is usually a female) schedule is sooooooo busy and she should step in front of me. These are not people with a screaming baby or elderly but someone who feels a sense of entitlement. I ask these people how their time is more important than mine and say I work two jobs, what about you?
I was waiting for someone to pull out of a parking garage space last week so I could go to my bank. I waited a full 5 minutes while this person got herself together to pull out, then this guy came around from the other side (and he clearly saw me first) and took the only space. The when I was in line at the bank, the same guy attempted to step in front of me in line. I said are you kidding and told him off.
Sounds like a New York thing even though Ive never been to NY. Perhaps a rat mentality?
Where and when did you learn what is "morally" correct Jammy?
lol perhaps....the Washington, DC area is just as bad as NY.
i think it happens everywhere
The same thing happens here at LP and I've been a part of it. I've have members PM me to ask if I would put aside any efforts I'm making to win a lottery for myself and work on projects that might help them win their lottery. I've PM them back and said "Hell NO", you do your own work, I hardly have time for my own.
she should have kept her mouth shut and never mentioned the other person in line.
If she didn't mention it, the person who let her bought the ticket first is going to come out and tell the story. The media would question Gloria's motive of not telling the story and label her as a bad granny.
well cutting in line already doesn't look good for granny...Of course I wasn't there so I don't know if she actually cut in line on purpose and Mindy decided to overlook it OR if she got in line not realizing she had cut until someone brought it to her attention...I just know as long as I've been alive, I have NEVER cut ahead of anyone in line and couldn't imagine even doing it.
We don't cut in line.We tell everyone there's free stuff in the back of the store, and run up front quickly.
That is hilarious. That's like someone in California saying no is going to win the Mega Million.
Well said, I agree 100%
Would anyone even want to be interviewed in a case like this? Being the loser? I sure wouldn't. Mindy's answers and
feelings about the whole thing were probably manipulated for story value and interest. If they keep putting ideas into
her head and making it sound a whole lot more than it was, I see another lawsuit on the horizon. But REALLY...what
is the basis for a lawsuit? She didn't steal her ticket, she didn't assualt Mindy and throw her out of line and she
didn't steal her money to play either.
Maybe Mindy really doesn't care...but we are to believe she does. Sensationalism raises it's head again. Let's get on to
the next winner...pah-lease.
I'm not surprised the media picked up this story and ran with it. They will sensationalize anything especially if it's about sex, money, or celebrities. They are really making a mountain out of a molehill. Someone should tell this poor woman how the quick picks are really generated so she will know she really didn't lose $590 million dollars by letting someone else buy their ticket first.
When was the last time you heard of a Good Samaritan doing a selfless act who then calls the media to let them know how wonderful and giving they are.
Every time we've read about someone doing something unbelievably selfless, it's usually the recipient or someone else who calls the media to focus on it.
Remember that cop who bought the homeless guy a pair of shoes in the winter? We found out because a tourist took a picture of it and sent it to the press. A highway patrolman gave a motorist a ticket, but also gave him $100 so he could get his car registered. It was the driver who went to the press, wanting everyone to know what an amazing thing the cop did for him. The stranger who gave a waitress hundreds of dollars in tips so she could go to Italy.
Never once did the person who did the act of kindness go to the media to broadcast their own generosity
Once Gloria acknowledged someone had been kind enough to let her go ahead of them, you can't blame Mindy for wanting to make sure the credited went to her just in case something very, very good came of it.
this has generated new kidness in the lotto queue. just today i was standing behind 2 people saying " after you, noo no after you,, no i insist...? "
i jumped both of them, wish me luck,.
I agree about giving a reward to the young lady. A similar thing happen to me few years ago in NY, an old lady cut me off to buy 2 scratch off tickets, she didn't win,i bought 1 ticket for $2 (the same scratch off game,i was planning to buy that game anyway ) i won about $60.
Ha ha good luck goose!
I let this car from another lane pull into my lane today. I believe that extra second may cost me a win in Powerball tonight. I am going to have to track that person down if I don't win tonight since they cost me a great loss in future earnings.
I agree. This whole thing is ridiculous. Even if everyone got in line for their tickets fairly, the outcome still depends on the fraction of a second that the QP numbers are selected and printed out. And considering the rapid rate that tickets were being sold anyone in the country who had a QP printed out around that same moment could've come close as Crandell did, probably more, to winning.
This is why I rolled my eyes at the story from a year ago where a lottery pool thought they won the jackpot because someone cut infront of them and was dealt a hand of karma.
You'll only have a case if you're playing quick picks where timing is important. However if you do win big, you'll have to find him and get him a share or you may feel like you cheated him.
Who gives a ***bleep***
There are sooooooooo many factors that played into the winning numbers matching that particular ticket. The drwing matched the ticket; not the other way around. No one is speculating on the draw. What would have happened if the balls were rolled milliseconds sooner or later. The old lady won. Nothing else to see here. All losers move along, please.
I am not reading all 12 pages of this thread so I do not know if it has been said already.
As other mentioned, if the person that allowed the lady to go ahead would not have done so the ticket she bought would have not been the jackpot winning ticket.
It is certain that the person that won would not have been the winner. She should give that woman a huge reward. I doubt she would have not insight to realize that fact so she will not give the other woman what she deserves.
I feel sorry for the woman that is courteous if she believes that she would have been the winner. Someone at the lottery office she point this out to her.
I give a bleep, the old hag is a cheat. And Ima NOT a loser.
There's an outside chance that the rightful person in line could get the same ticket at the same instantaneous moment and be the rightful winner. They were cheated plain and simple.
lol nahhhh If I win, I will make a donation and have a tree planted in his name : "Anonymous"
This idea that the lady who was cut off in line wouldn't have won because new QP's are generated every millisecond is absurd and laughable. If she HAD NOT been cut off she very well might have gotten that exact ticket. The bottom line is no one will never know for sure, which is what should make this so agonzing for this poor woman.
You can rationalize it all you want, and pretend to be magnanimous in the safety of this forum, but if that were you and you WEREN'T teed off, YOU WOULDN'T BE HUMAN!!
Mackenzie was brazen and rude enough for a 10 year old girl AND the Publix clerk to both say something about her cutting in line. That should tell you something about how this went down. Mackenzie took advantage of the fact that Crandell got momentarily distracted by her child, which for some bizarre reason entitled her to skip. Being 84 doesn't give you the right to ignore common courtesy. Crandell's only mistake was not telling her to get back and wait her turn.
The only decent thing to do here is for her to write the Crandells a nice fat check. I wouldn't hold my breath, though.
I Think no matter who bought that next Quick pick it was gonna be the WINNER
sometimes it don't pay YOU to be NICE!
Moral of this story ...........don't let anyone go ahead of you ........
I'll be surprised if that older lady donate any money to the younger lady .......
In NY, it's the opposite. The winner let another player cut in front of him. He won 319 millions. So, it could cut either way.
She is greedy, stingy, and rude. She will not share a dime.
are you trying to say nice guys finish last, hmw?
you catch on quick you should change your name to white lightning
How often have you remembered who was in line with you when you brought a lottery ticket that won a jackpot? You would just has to take their word that they were the ones.
well i expect if she does give her some money we will be sure to hear about it because of all the comotion this has caused sure the ole lady winner will want to clear her name for the Good standing.
I think this will all go away soon and the little old lady does not need to clear her name. She did nothing illegal and there is nothing to bear on her standing in any situation. If you pay off everyone who creates a commotion or whines when you win a major jackpot, you will be writing a lot of "nuisance" settlement checks and once you pay off one, 10 more will be lined up.
I truly hope that Mackenzie rewards Crandell for her kindness, selflessness, and polite manners not often found in today's society! Especially in FL - where people are notoriously rude.
Whether quickpicks are sold at a millisecond rate or not, if the woman was buying her ticket at the exact moment Crandell would have bought a ticket - chances are at least good that she could have purchased the winning ticket at that same moment the Publix clerk pushed the QP button - not Mackenzie.
From the statement by the FL Lottery - it's not clear whether Mackenzie really is being sincere or being a smart ass by her remark "another woman was kind enough to allow me to cut in front of her in line and purchase the winning ticket". To me, it sounds facetious. Who says something like this? A crotchety old lady who is gloating - sounds taunting and RUDE.
As others have commented - Crandell deserves SOMETHING.
This woman is 84 years old - and clearly does not have the 50 years that Crandell could have to enjoy a better life for her and for her family.
One woman said she would give 10% - which is about $28 million (based on her choice to receive the lump sum payout - minus taxes - which is $278 million)
Even 1 million dollars would change Crandell's life drastically and give her and her family financial security.
Mackenzie - please - DO THE RIGHT THING!!!
p.s.
I live in FL also - and I knew with this jackpot that the winner would be in FL and the winning ticket would be sold at Publix - I traveled to 3 counties and bought tickets at many different Publix stores - and was still buying on Saturday afternoon - likely near the same time Mackenzie bought her winning ticket! I couldn't believe I didn't have the winning ticket this time - I was sure that day was my day to win! I only wish it was me... =] I will keep trying - because I know that winning the Powerball is my destiny! Hence my screen name: pballwinnertobe =]=]=]
Crandall and her daughter do not come across as poor to me. They strike me as very middle class at least. I hope if the real and only winner wants to make some donations, there are people who don't have a bed to sleep in and are hungry and there are many charities that work to help such people.
Could it be her Fate that she won? Can it be her Destiny!
Nobody is destined to win a lottery. Nobody deserves to win a lottery. It's just pure coincidence. Winning a lottery could happen to anybody.
A winner usually has to take the time and make an effort to buy a ticket so it's not pure coincidence unless someone else does that for them.
I looked up Coincidence: Any given set of coincidences may just be a form of synchronicity, that being the experience of events which are causally unrelated, and yet their occurring together carries meaning to the person observing the events.
Of course they need to buy a ticket. I never implied that they don't have to.
Meaning is what you make of it. Winning a lottery by itself doesn't have a meaning intrinsically.
I for one don't think that if I win a lottery, it would have to have any meaning.
but how do we even know she was getting a poweball ticket maybe she was getting a p3 or maybe she wasnt getting a ticket at all maybe she was getting gas or cigars
I think Florida Lottery should settle this controversy once and for all by telling us how QP actually works or at least tell us whether the exact millisecond when pressing the QP button matters or not.
my meaning is what I make of it! OK I say she Just won by fate, Destiny, Coincidence and Intrinsically!!!
i already know i think it's something like this: every Lottery Mach is programed to sell a certain amount or something like how many sales per something like if your store is cranking out 20 million tickets a day and the store down the road only sells 10 tickets the whole week well you figure there will be more winners from your store.
no need to thank me
Snake and a Mouse. The mouse owes nothing.
don't snakes eat mouses
A lottery spokesman did address this. Each terminal has it's own RNG and the numbers change in a millisecond.
That info was lost in the shuffle to talk about the non winner. Also there is a quote saying by Mindy that the old lady may have not noticed she cut. At the counter the clerk tried to correct the error. Mindy insisted the elderly lady go ahead.
Does Gloria owe Mindy anything?
No.
Will she give her anything?
I bet she'd like to and wants to.
I'd also bet her sons and lawyers won't let her.
Perhaps they will also ask her to continue living in a tin shed so they can have more money to spend?
The mouse scurried away into the mouse hole with someone else's cheese.
Everyone was in line 2 buy D big Powerball jackpot winning ticket.
She may not owe her money, but an apology for being an opportunist is definitely in order.
We all run into women trying to wrangle children who get overwhelmed or distracted. What if we all started cutting them off? Where does it end? Why don't we just push them out of the way?
Mackenzie's getting a pass because she's old. If she were 30 it'd be a different story.
"I'd also bet her sons and lawyers won't let her."
Just the fact the lottery spokesperson mentioned that Gloria had "accidental" jumped in front of another player proves Gloria was thinking about the other player. It makes me wonder why the lawyer was there because Gloria's comments to the lottery spokesperson have us and the news media speculating whether or not Mindy deserves a nice reward.
The 50/50 split with her son is suspicious too because if the ticket was split, why didn't the lottery spokesperson say the jackpot was was claimed by Gloria C. MacKenzie and her son Scott MacKenzie?
AMEN TO THAT.
They hate those meeces to pieces!
dont let emily hear you say that
And how exactly would she have done that? They don't know each other, never met before, never met after.
Should she have made a public service announcement and said:
"would the woman whose name I don't know, whose face I can't remember, who allowed me to skip in line at Publix, meet me at the lottery office so I can give you a cut of $590 million"?
Yeah, okay. And after the entire town of Zephyrhills shows up, then what?
I love how you are automatically assuming this woman is rude and Mindy is some kind of saint. Really? Why?
And why are you assuming she's even telling the truth?
I'll tell you something, SELFLESS people don't call the press to tell them how wonderfully kind and selfless they are. You are doing EXACTLY what Mindy expected the public to do when she went to the media.
Everything that happened that day played a part in her getting that ticket. If (and this is if we believed Mindy's story) the cashier hadn't stopped to ask Mindy if it was okay for Gloria to go first, Gloria wouldn't have won. If she'd walked either a little faster or slower to that ticket counter, she wouldn't have won. Mindy was not the reason Gloria won that ticket. But if you assume it is, then you also have to assume that every single person who had any contact with Gloria that day was the reason she got to that counter at the exact precise moment she needed to be there and so they all deserve something too.
I think what's RUDE is someone supposedly doing a kind act to harp on it. If for every time that you open the door for someone, or give a pregnant woman your seat or allow an elderly person to go ahead of you in line you think you deserve some kind of reward then THAT is rude. That is without morals or decency.
So what if Gloria is 84. Maybe that just means she's had a struggle for a lot longer amount of time than Mindy and now she can leave something for her kids and grandkids and know that they will be taken care of. Mayb it means she's been playing the lottery in some form or another for a lot longer time and therefore invested a lot more money into it than Mindy. If Gloria chooses to give Mindy anything, that is her decision. She shouldn't be pressured into it by Saint Mindy or her cheering squad.
"Everything that happened that day played a part in her getting that ticket."
That ticket was no different than any other ticket before 59 numbered balls dropped into a container and forced air was applied creating thousands, maybe millions of chaotic situations. If the slot the balls enter had opened one second early or one second late, would Gloria still won the jackpot?
What if the person hitting the start button on the bonus number machine sneezed, coughed, or scratched their nose delaying when that machine was suppose to start by a second or two?
How many other actions happened during the time all the 242 million tickets were sold and all the numbers were drawn are there that may have changed by one second either way resulting in an entirely different outcome?
we need some new stories
Thank you jesus
True but the jackpots aren't yet big enough to create one.
We all forgot about the PowerBall winner of $338M from NJ who everyone thought should pay all his neighbors rent and we'll forget about Gloria too, but first we need a new story.
With PB at $70M, I doubt if anyone cares if there was a winner, how they became a winner or if they're going to share their winnings. It may take a couple more weeks for that new story to pop up, but it will.
what you think you think Gloria is gonna pay anyone rent
Well said helpmewin!!
Yea, I'm waiting for one In particular,
I heard that a 30mils. MM ticket was sold at a truck stop about 25 miles from me in a town called Buena.
I guess it was not claimed yet.
It was for the may 31st drawing, the ticket was sold at a place called Vineland truck stop.
So the winner could be from out of state, lot of people from Delaware use that road to get to Atlantic city.
But I don't know why someone from Delaware would buy MM in Jersey when you can claim anonymous in Delaware.
maybe a truck driver
Not everyone cares about claiming anonymously.
10 percent is a little much.
Although the whole ordeal is fraught with synchronistic determinism,
i think 100,000 would be fair as the little old lady is not behooven to give anything.
I would be surprised if she sent a thank you card.
there's enough money to go around even though everyone seems to think she is not obligated just out of decency maybe she should throw her and them kids a few dollars
kindness goes a long way right
If she wasn't a mean old greedy selfish rude stingy biddy, she would have gotten out of the way when the clerk said "Its NOT your turn"
we all have our faults
she may have already gave mindy some money but maybe she told her to keep quite so the hold town won't come knocking at her front door
$70 Million or $21 Million
not enough for you
If Gloria Mackenzie gave Mindy Crandell as much as $1, Crandell's lawyers would use it as an admission that she was somehow responsible for the outcome, and demand half. This would prompt the person in front of Mackenzie in line to call for a 3-way split because he or she left sooner than planned to allow an old lady to proceed. The clerk could claim their kind, slow attention to the old lady timed her ticket precisely, and call for a 4-way split. The person who held the door for Ms. Mackenzie as she entered the store could...........
And all of the claimants but Mackenzie would be either idiots or opportunists.
The winning ticket was randomly generated and the winning numbers were drawn through a random process at a later time at a different location. The only person eligible for the prize, legally and morally, is the purchaser of the winning ticket!
No good deed goes unpunished.
Not always.
If Gloria Mackenzie gave Mindy Crandell as much as $1, Crandell's lawyers would use it as an admission that she was somehow responsible for the outcome, and demand half. This would prompt the person in front of Mackenzie in line to call for a 3-way split because he or she left sooner than planned to allow an old lady to proceed. The clerk could claim their kind, slow attention to the old lady timed her ticket precisely, and call for a 4-way split. The person who held the door for Ms. Mackenzie as she entered the store could...........
And all of the claimants but Mackenzie would be either idiots or opportunists.
The winning ticket was randomly generated and the winning numbers were drawn through a random process at a later time at a different location. The only person eligible for the prize, legally and morally, is the purchaser of the winning ticket!
WOW. Didn't realize you were there.
Mindy said the old woman may have not realized she cut. Mindy insisted the old woman go ahead. Mindy has no regrets and wouldn't have won if she bought a ticket. No way would the event happen in the same nanosecond anyway.
But would love to hear how it went down from your place in line.
No good deed goes unnoticed by God, who rewards those who do good.
Sometimes street smarts is just as good as being there. Kids are quick witted and it was clear that she noticed the lady cut. Its not impossible to imagine that the old hag stepping out of the way would have taken the exact same amount of time (down to the millisecond) as Mindy insisting that she go ahead.
The winning ticket was randomly generated and the winning numbers were drawn through a random process at a later time at a different location. The only person eligible for the prize, legally and morally, is the purchaser of the winning ticket!
Not if the ticket was illegally purchased.
The issue is not that Mindy would have won if she got the next tickets that Gloria got instead, the issue is cause and effect: those last actions of Mindy saying "you go ahead" to Gloria affected the timing that allowed her to get tickets with those numbers on it, which turned out to be winning numbers.
It's like the last seconds of a close/tied basketball game. The final buzzer beater is the final decision/act that decides the game. Sure, any basket before that could have affected the game as well, but the final one is what everyone concentrates on, and has the ultimate final impact of winning or losing.
But you also have to consider all aspects of the butterfly effect:
Imagine if Mindy didn't allow Gloria to go ahead and took the next tickets instead, both her and Gloria's numbers would be different. Then they each drive away from Publix with a few seconds different timing. This causes certain people across town to miss/make certain lights at intersections differenty. And then this causes one particular person to send a tweet a few seconds later, to a friend across the state who happens to work at lottery HQ in setting up the draw machines. His few seconds delay affects in tiny ways how the machines are taken from the vault and setup in the draw room, resulting in miniscule differences in jostling of the balls and microseconds of delay in starting the machines. This ultimately causes different balls to be drawn. And they could've been Mindy's!
jimmy4164
Jon D,
"And they could've been Mindy's!"
And they could have been yours.
And they could have been Ronnie316's.
And they could have been ..............
When you invoke the Butterfly Effect, you must remember that it ultimately involves every conceivable particle or wave in the universe. Don't you want to at least limit the distribution of the $590M to sentient beings?
--Jimmy4164
I'm guessing that those folks have balconies to wave from.
That's exactly my point! Anyone could have won instead, or it could've been multiple wins, etc. But I admit I was debating the on the last word in the final sentence, saying could've been "anyones" instead. But saying "Mindy's" kinda fans the flames of discontent a little bit...I'm a little bad.
I was merely pointing out that the idea that the draw room is a closed ecosystem unaffected by outside events far away is not necessarily true. And yes, of course the draw would be limited to legeally purchased tickets by human beings.
I know about the butterfly effect. And absolutely anyone could have won.
My comment was more because I didn't see the reason for such nasty comments example : If she wasn't a mean old greedy selfish rude stingy biddy, she would have gotten out of the way when the clerk said "Its NOT your turn"
Just to clarify, those are not my words you are quoting, they are Ronnie's. But I think you might be taking them a little too seriously.
Don't you want to at least limit the distribution of the $590M to sentient beings?
--Jimmy4164
Would this eliminate you as a possible winner Jammy? Just wondering.
RN:
A Little Confession>>>>>>>>>>>>>@ times>>>>>>I've been ah>>
StiNker>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>@ times <<?>>I've been ah>>
"The only person eligible for the prize, legally and morally, is the purchaser of the winning ticket!"
Not always.
She didn't actually purchase the ticket.
The money did.
And who prints the money?
Ben Bernanke, that's who.
So Ben Bernanke should get a share.
To improve her chances of winning, Gloria cut in line every Black Friday for the past 25yrs.
Wow, i know that would be something hard for me to swallow or get off my mind, im glad to see she has no regrets but she is right, it is a lesson learned and she probably would have not gotten the winning number anyway and im sure gloria will find a way to contact her and give her some good money
good deeds do pay off 
enjoy your money when you recieve it Mrs. Crandell
Ronnie, I was in Publix today and saw the same thing I have been talking about when it comes to the Publix counter. There is this tendency for people in the line to leave this HUGE gap between them and the person at the counter and while they are waiting they're browsing the racks Publix put there for just such people.
I was going to the counter, saw 1 person there, saw a gap and was going to step in behind that person, remembered Gloria/Mindy and decided to do another look, and sure enough, there was a person, supposedly in the line looking at Father's Day cards. But she didn't look in line and she certainly wasn't paying attention. But I realized she was distracted by her browsing so I went ahead and got behind her, at that exact moment a Publix employee saw us in the line and said "any one for lotto can stand over here".
I smiled to myself and thought, if I was an 84 year old half blind old woman, I would have cut the line and if I'd won, here we'd go again.
And I wouldn't have done it intentionally. This is just a common occurrence at Publix and it's never a big deal. Usually we just tell whoever to go ahead, it's okay.
She is really a kind. Maybe it's not yet her time to win but I'm sure she will someday. She needs more time to prepare because she might win a jackpot more than this amount.
well said , i will have a regret if i let the lady who won go infront of me and i recieve no penny .. hell to the no lol