VISALIA, Calif. — A fortunate California man experienced a life-changing moment when he left a gas station as a millionaire, all thanks to a fortuitous scratch-off ticket purchase.
Brent Young found himself in a bit of a quandary at the Prince Food & Gas establishment in Visalia, California. Uncertain about which scratcher to choose, he sought assistance from the store clerk. Young casually remarked, “Just pick whichever one,” demonstrating his indifference to the selection, as he conveyed to the California Lottery.
So, with Young’s nonchalant approval, the clerk selected a $30 California 200X game for him.
After completing his gas purchase and acquiring the game, Young began to scratch off the ticket. The moment of astonishment arrived when, halfway through the process, Young uncovered a square that revealed the game’s grand prize – an astonishing $10 million.
Young recounted his initial reaction: “When I saw all those zeros, I was like, ‘no way, this doesn’t happen to people like me.’ It’s crazy. Out of all those options, the clerk could have picked a different game. But he didn’t. He grabbed a winner.”
Remarkably, Young typically refueled and bought lottery tickets from another gas station. However, on this particular day, he had to choose Prince’s because his usual stop was unexpectedly closed.
Reflecting on this twist of fate, Young mused, “It’s almost like God’s intervention. I didn’t have a specific ticket I was going to buy, so I let someone else decide. I had no choice but to go to Prince’s. My usual stop was closed. If it had been open, none of this probably would have happened.”
In the end, Young opted for the lump sum prize, receiving a substantial $5.8 million, while the gas station’s owner celebrated a $50,000 prize for selling the winning ticket.