Woman Who Let Powerball Winner Cut in Line Speaks Out: 'Things Happen'
Mother-of-two Mindy Crandell was standing in line at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, Florida, waiting to buy a Powerball ticket in the hopes of claiming her share of a historic $590.5 million payday, when 84-year-old Gloria C. Mackenzie suddenly cut in front of her.
"My 10-year-old said, 'Mom, There's a lady in front of us,'" the 34-year-old Crandall told ABC News last night. "I noticed that the lady was there. Didn't pay a lot of mind to it."
The cashier even stopped Mackenzie and gave Crandell an opportunity to buy her tickets first, but she declined.
The octogenarian, who purchased a single Quick Pick ticket, went on to be the sole winner of the Powerball jackpot later that night.
Crandall recalled her friends and family teasing her about letting Mackenzie cut in line.
"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,'" she said.
Asked if she had any regrets, Crandell said she didn't. "It could have been us, but things happen," she told ABC.
Speaking with Tamba Bay's WTSP, Crandell said the most important thing is that her daughter Mallory learned a valuable lesson that day.
Which is? "That being polite is better than being rich," Mallory said.
