Walmart employee buys lottery ticket after working on day off and wins $1,000,000
A Walmart employee who reluctantly went to work on her day off bought a lottery ticket after her shift and wound up winning $1million.
Rebecca Gonzalez said she was not thrilled when her manager with the retail chain contacted her at the last minute to work on a holiday.
‘It was Labor Day and they only needed me for three hours,’ Gonzalez told the California Lottery.
‘I wanted to obviously be home with my family because we planned to barbecue.’
While at the store in Los Angeles County, Gonzalez purchased a Single Double Triple Scratchers ticket from a vending machine.
‘I’d planned on buying one on my break, but it was so busy I totally forgot. I didn’t remember I was going to buy a Scratchers until I left for the night and passed by the machines,’ she said, according to the California Lottery on Tuesday.
‘I couldn’t believe it!’
Gonzalez played $10 and landed the $1million top prize.
She is using the payout to get rid of her debt and purchase a new home along with her husband.
The Walmart in the City of Industry where she bought the ticket is also getting a $5,000 bonus.
Gonzalez kept quiet around her lucky win for the most part.
‘I’ve only told one person at work, and it was the manager who wanted me to stay late on a holiday,’ she said.
‘He couldn’t believe it.’
Despite her new fortune, Gonzalez said she plans to continue working at Walmart.
Keeping her job is exactly what some advisers to lottery winners encourage.
‘Don’t quit your job, don’t go out and buy a Ferrari, don’t buy a mansion,’ Emily Irwin with Wells Fargo told Fortune last year.
A California man who won the world’s largest lottery jackpot has been doing the opposite of that, splurging on three mansions and antique cars – although he has a lot more to spend from winning the $2.04billion prize.
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