Not a Good Day

Today ended horribly at work.  On Thursdays, I act as attendant in our small casino (a very Montana thing to have attached to a sports bar/restaurant).  Usually this is a rather slow day for me and today seemed no different.  Until I went to count my bag at the end of my shift.  Somehow, despite being ridiculously slow, I came up $135 short.  I've never even been a dollar short before and now I was missing over $100.  I panicked.

I counted the money again and again until finally I broke into tears and realized that despite having no idea how it could happened the money was long gone.  After putting my tips toward the deficit, I was still $80 short forcing me to go to the ATM to make up the difference.  I effectively paid to go to work today.

I still have absolutely no idea what could have happened, but at this point I suppose it doesn't even matter.  What's done is done and the debt has been paid.  Paid painfully, but paid none the less.  Life goes on.

UPDATE
Have you ever had one of those moments of total clarity in the middle of the night?  The type that wakes you up and suddenly everything is clear in a way that is almost scary?  Well that happened to me at about 5:30 a.m. this morning.

I woke up and in the same instant that my eyes were opening I remembered cashing a $135 winning ticket.  Not only did I remember the ticket, I remembered nearly everything about the man who claimed it including the machine he'd been playing and how he liked his coffee.  I remembered our conversation and how much money he'd fed the machine.  Mostly I remembered cashing his ticket, marking it off and putting it away (it's only where it went that remains unknown).  I found the money in a sleep induced perfect memory.

Remembering was almost as rewarding as being handed my $135 after checking the accounting of machine 16.  There, at noon just like I'd said, was a $135 cashout.  Thank you, memory.