If you haven’t heard lately, the Powerball lottery jackpot is up to an estimated $1.3 billion. I’m not a gambling woman but sometimes, you’ve just got to play the odds. And the odds this time are 1 in 292.2 million.
Here’s the funny part of it all. I used to sell lottery tickets. I worked at the service counter for a large drug store chain in Ohio and after a few months, they figured I was responsible enough to handle the sale of stamps, money orders, and lottery tickets. And man, did I learn a thing or two about the lottery and, more importantly, about the people who played it.
There was one woman who came in every day. Every. Day. And she played the Pick Three. She’d hand me a scrap of paper with numbers scrawled on it and tell me if she wanted them straight or boxed. I’d print out the tickets and take her money, almost begrudgingly. Some days she spent as much as $15 on these lottery tickets which at the most would only pay out $500. I wanted to tell her she was fighting a losing battle. That she’d never win enough to make up for how much she spent.
In my household the other night, we started talking about the what ifs. What if we won? What would we do?
My son, Evan, said, “I don’t even know why you’re talking about it. It’s not like you’ve even won yet.”
And we told him that imagining what you could do with the winnings was half the fun! My husband and I started talking back and forth. There was talk of bigger houses for us, for my mom. Talk of cars and boats and exotic trips. I made my husband promise we’d do something extremely charitable. And as we were talking, we asked Evan what he’d do with the money.
It turns out that 8 year olds are much more imaginative when it comes to spending money than us boring grown-ups.
Evan started out by saying he’d like to build some sort of aquarium and have a pet octopus and then get about $1000 worth of gems for Clash of Clans. And that was it. We encouraged him to think bigger, broader, more expensive and he started getting really creative.
In addition to the above, he’d like to stay where we live but knock down our house and build a better one. One of the rooms would specifically house his antique sword collection (which I guess he’d have to buy). And he’d fill the house with colorful tile and buy a stretch limousine. I think he got that last one from us since I mentioned we’d have a limousine pick him  up from the bus stop every day.
 I like the way this kid thinks and it’s inspired me to think a little outside the box as well. Now what would you do with a billion dollars? (And if you bought a lottery ticket, GOOD LUCK!)
5 comments
I am one of the idiots that plays the Daily 4 EVERY. DAY. My number hasn’t fallen in almost two years. lol. I pray that when there is a winner, that there are LOTS AND LOTS of winners…not just one. NO ONE needs to be the sole winner of all of that money, that would be horrific……seriously, it would. I would be happy with just winning $10,000 of it, I am not kidding! But….if I won, I would donate…A LOT…….I would buy a sports team (or two)………I would also buy out some companies (that shall remain nameless) so I could be a control freak lol. I would also share with some of my friends who I KNOW have a need and try to keep family away (most of our family is rich except for us lol). I would open an animal shelter and possibly a Day Care for kids….I would definitely give back…..to those who deserve it.
I am one of the idiots that plays the Daily 4 EVERY. DAY. My number hasn’t fallen in almost two years. lol. I pray that when there is a winner, that there are LOTS AND LOTS of winners…not just one. NO ONE needs to be the sole winner of all of that money, that would be horrific……seriously, it would. I would be happy with just winning $10,000 of it, I am not kidding! But….if I won, I would donate…A LOT…….I would buy a sports team (or two)………I would also buy out some companies (that shall remain nameless) so I could be a control freak lol. I would also share with some of my friends who I KNOW have a need and try to keep family away (most of our family is rich except for us lol). I would open an animal shelter and possibly a Day Care for kids….I would definitely give back…..to those who deserve it.
Oh, Caren. Do I need to lecture you about the Pick 4? Although the payout is better than the Pick 3. Let’s hope that one or many deserving people will win tonight (and I’ll throw us into that category).
I bought two tickets, so of course I’m qualified to discuss how to spend my billion+. I’ll quit my job, but I will get a new one: philanthropist. I’m going to start a foundation with at least half of the money. I don’t quite know what the focus of my foundation will be, but I’ll figure it out over the course of the next year while I pay for amazing trips around the globe with friends and family. I guess I’ll have to hire a tutor for my kids so they don’t get behind in school. My house will be expanded, renovated, and redecorated while I’m away. I’ll try to pick up some nice art on my travels. I’ll have a personal chef and personal trainer. Yes – definitely some staff. I’ll have a team of advisers (financial, legal, etc.), so when long-lost acquaintances and relatives come to me for money, I’ll say, “I’d love to, but my advisers have put strict restrictions on the money, and it’s under tight control. You’ll have to fill out a form and get it approved through my team. Here’s the URL. Sorry.”
I read that you have a much greater chance or dying in a car accident than winning the lottery.
REALLY? That’s what statisticians come up with to try to temper our hope? They must be really miserable people. There’s still that ONE in the statistics that could win. I hope it’s you and you take me with you on those amazing trips. If not, then I hope it’s me.
P.S. I read the book Wild and it made me think of you on the Appalachian Trail!