Sorry faithful readers, we didn’t win the “big one”…no need to send us flowers, offer to spring for that overdue lunch or hustle us your favorite charity
Standing in the lottery queue at our neighborhood Publix, we handed over our scrum of tickets hoping for a fiver in the middle of our certain nine other losers
Imagine our surprise when the desk attendant popped up a winning ticket that would have to be claimed through a Florida Lottery office….with a blank look on our face, the nice woman behind the counter said we had won at least six hundred dollars
Driving out to the county Lotto office on Jog Road we evaluated our potential winnings…..we knew that we didn’t hold the “big one”as the next drawing was a rollover….and not being a regular player, we weren’t well versed in the lesser amount payouts or the terminology of regular players… Odds, payouts, lotto vs. powerball and all the other buzz words of lottery hawks
Suffice it to say that our five out of six numbers paid us way more than six hundred dollars and a whole lot less than a room full of zeros at the end of a number
While pleased to have a bit of luck, we came to the conclusion that’s all it was….a bit of unexpected luck, not a divine tap on the shoulder from God, nor an acknowledgement of our day to day good guy status….
Our little brush with riches got us to thinking seriously about the power of money in our culture…..if we’d won the”big one”how would our day to day life change? ….. Would we emulate the Clampett clan in moving to Beverly? …. Would we buy a Ferrari or charter a yacht? ….it was a relief to acknowledge that we wouldn’t do any of the above…..we’d help out our nieces and nephews as they struggle to move forward in this tough economy….we’d help some dear friends in their plan to adopt a little baby from Haiti….we’d pay a year’s worth of utilities for a neighbor who is attempting to set up a non profit retreat center for folks who have lost their way….we’d throw a dance party for all our friends…a fun night of 80′s disco tunes till the sun came up!
But not really much more than that….the Ferrari salesman would have to find another buyer, the yacht broker would have to move on to a list of rich Russians , and thankfully we wouldn’t be inclined to pull up stakes and move to Beverly Hills
Anyone with any smarts would stop playing the Lottery – the quit while you are ahead crowd – but no, we’re going to still wager a couple of bucks here and there….supposedly it’s for a good cause, education, tho we’re not seeing a lot of improvement in that field, and it’s definitely a cheap thrill to see that winning ticket spit out of the machine, knowing you beat the odds
If we ever win the “big one” maybe you can forget all of the above….we’ll post a picture on facebook of our gleaming red Ferrari parked in front of our mansion high up in the Hills of Beverly!…. But don’t plan to drop on by as we’ll probably be cruising the Mediterranean on our chartered yacht….help us out here… Which side is starboard?
