When I pick up my Wawa hoagie, I place my numbered slip into the little bucket by the counter, say thank you to the heroes making America’s sandwiches, and quickly forget about the entire interaction. Hundreds of trips to Wawa over my life and never have I ever given any thought to these pieces of paper. Tyler Gyurisin, who I dub as the new “King of Wawa,” made a mission to collect them all.
Tyler is 22, from Barnegat, NJ, and a lover of Wawa. Over three years, six states, hundreds of Wawa locations, and thousands of Wawa trips, Tyler had managed to collect every ticket order number from 000-999. Tyler tweeted out this announcement, along with the evidence, to millions of users who were left scratching their heads in confusion and awe. Through his harmless conviction, Tyler earned praise from Wawa’s twitter account, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and even Wawa’s CEO, Chris Gheysons, who offered up his job.
I spoke with Tyler about his collection, what he’s going to do with them, and his newfound status as the King of Wawa. It all started when he was on a quest to take a picture in front of every single location. As all of these orders across Wawa Nation accrued, he wound up with a big pile of these order tickets. Tyler said, “Looking at this pile, it would be a funny/stupid idea to see how many I could get, sort of like a puzzle. Then years went by, and hundreds of tickets later, it really became like a challenge.”
Since Tyler’s tweet has gone viral, I asked him how he’s enjoyed the dash of fame that a viral tweet bares. Tyler laughed, “It’s gotta be the stupidest thing ever to be famous for, but it’s funny and crazy.” In addition to the major media publishers that have reached out to our Wawa King, Wawa Corporate is in contact with him for a reward yet to be revealed.
Even after collecting all of these tickets and accomplishing his goal, the thrill is not gone for Tyler. Every day, he will continue to get his coffee, mac n cheese, garlic knots, and any other culinary concoction he so yearns for as he continues his quest across the country. This most likely won’t end any time soon, which I’m sure Tyler is happy about, as Wawa is popping up new stores faster than Tyler can visit them. He gave a special shout out to the retro Wildwood Wawa in particular, and the quality of their garlic knots.
Many have said that this ticket collection should be framed, or that it belongs in a museum. In response to being asked what he’s going to do with them, he answered, “realistically I’m probably going to throw them away.” Similarly to the Tibetan Monks who destroy their colorful sand mandalas only hours after finishing them, the collection will be gone. Thus symbolizing the impermanent nature of life.
Follow Tyler on his Twitter or Tiktok account as he continues his conquest across Wawa Nation.
Tyler and I spoke around 5PM. As we said our goodbyes, we both agreed that Wawa was for dinner tonight.
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