COVID Lotto Ticket Glory Hole

A good friend, who is also my lawyer from South Philadelphia, sent me some interesting photos during the depths of COVID. The bodega across the street created a lotto ticket and cigarette glory hole to stay open during the strict lockdown period.

All non-essential stores were not allowed foot traffic inside their establishments during the lockdown. They had a genius workaround to stay compliant - a hole cut out in the side of their store. If most of your patrons are buying small objects, well, you could pay for them and pass them through the hole! A brilliant organic design by some shopkeepers.

As a user experience practitioner, I'm always looking for workarounds to processes in the real world. They show up in the most random places and are more creative than you can imagine. Step back and take a gander at this transaction.

Orgel's Second Rule comes to mind while watching this interaction.

"Evolution is cleverer than you are."

Marvelous!