Last year, in an attempt to drum up traffic on The Miller Times, I argued the lottery is rigged to be won by large groups of people, like a high school janitorial staff, hospital cafeteria workers or linemen at a factory.
I told readers I would buy a Powerball ticket and I would share the $107 million jackpot if they commented on how they would spend it. By the time the drawing came, the jackpot would’ve been split so many ways, I would’ve been lucky to cover my student loans.
We didn’t win, just for clarification. In a way, I was relieved. I started thinking about all the lawsuits, the false claims, being the idiot who promised away shares of $107 million only to be left with like $34,000 to himself. It would’ve been a nice story, sure as hell would’ve drummed up traffic, but it might’ve driven me to the bottle.
I didn’t get a ticket for last night’s Mega Millions drawing, a $355 million jackpot which will be split by at least two winners. Winning tickets were sold in Idaho and Washington, but the winners haven’t yet been identified.
When I think about winning the lottery — and this used to be a hobby when I was a kid — I never thought about what I would buy, but rather, how I would secure the ticket from the time I won to the time I claimed the prize. That’s not something you go on Facebook and Twitter to brag about. At least not until you have a big-ass check in hand. Discretion is a must. Go somewhere safe. Hell, go into a safe and don’t come out until you can claim that prize. Breathe lightly, though.
You don’t get to sleep the night you win millions of dollars. You make a list of people with whom you intend on sharing the money and exactly how. For me, it goes like this:
- Each family member gets seven percent, straight up.
- My friends get a car (under $100,000) and I pay off their student debt.
- My girlfriend gets whatever she wants.
- I buy a minority stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves from fellow Minnesota State alumni Glen Taylor, then buyout David Khan to become general manager.
Can’t a boy dream?
Instead, it’s business as usual at NE Taylor and 18th, where a well-to-do blogger wraps up another one so he can go to work and earn his keep the honest way. Meanwhile, lucky winners in Idaho and Washington experience a chain of events that will eventually land them on E! True Hollywood Story: Curse of the Lottery Part 3.
Suckers.
If I could win just enough money to pay off all my student debt I’d be the happiest person alive.
I don’t play the lottery but if I did and won, I’d like to retire and just blog and blog and…Ah, now that’s heaven.