Every time a lottery jackpot exceeds $200 million, the media stirs up a frenzy by doing the obligatory stories about people lining up out the door of convenience stores, hoping that they will be the lucky one to win the big prize.
TV stations often do the story about “how many things you can buy” if you won the lottery.
“With that jackpot, you could buy 10 billion hamburgers or 2,800 Lamborghinis or stretch dollar bills from here to the moon and back.” All of those examples are purely guesses, as the calculator on my cell phone doesn’t allow me to enter numbers about 99 million, because those are crazy amounts.
This week I had forgotten about the Mega Millions jackpot drawing on Tuesday until my editor received an alarm on his cell phone, reminding him that it was time to buy a ticket.
Not a bad idea, since the jackpot had reached $363 million and was still climbing as of this writing. The state record jackpot, by the way, was $390 million back in March 2007. I’m pretty sure I contributed a dollar or two to that now-millionaire’s take. And I haven’t so much gotten a “thanks” for it.
The odds of winning Wednesday’s jackpot were about 1 in 176 million, according to media reports. That means my chances of winning were virtually non-existent. But someone had to win, so it was worth the gamble.
Our office discussion of what we would do with our winnings first centered on the payout. The editor said he would prefer to receive payments over the years, rather than the lump sum amount estimated at
nearly $260 million.
As for me, that’s a lump that I’m willing to take.
I wouldn’t want the inevitable media attention that would come with a lottery win, though I also wouldn’t mind the freedom that chunk of change would provide.
Since this column was written before the winning numbers were selected, I may already be a winner. If that’s the case, this will be my last column. Thanks for reading, and don’t ask for a loan.
It’s not that I don’t love to write and love my two jobs as a journalist and a teacher. It’s that figuring out what to do with $260 million would become a full-time job in itself.
First I’d have to take time off work to hold the massive cardboard check at the press conference telling the world that I won. Then I’d have to hire security to keep away all the people who just found out that I was a multi-millionaire.
I’d write a check to my Internet provider without even complaining about the recent price hike that they attributed to “changing economic conditions” or something dumb like that. I’d then go fill up my gas tank without even cringing.
My changing economic conditions would turn me into an entrepreneur. No job sounds better to me than figuring out who should benefit from my philanthropy.
That $260 million would go a long way to help my family and my community. A new all-weather track and turf field at San Benito High School? Let me get that.
A donation to local churches and other community service agencies? No problem.
Picking up the dinner tab when I’m out with my parents? That one will require a change in my long-held philosophy, but I owe them a meal or two, so go ahead and order dessert, Mom and Dad.
I’ve seen the show “How the Lottery Changed My Life,” with its cautionary tales of people who wasted most of their winnings on fancy cars and investment schemes. I’m not the guy who wants a Ferrari, though, so I’m not concerned about throwing my winnings away.
I’d get my truck repainted and I’d pay my car registration before the due date. My wife could retire and my sons could go to the best college that money can buy – and that they could get in to.
There is so much dreaming that comes with the thought of winning the lottery. It’s fun to plan how to spend imaginary money. It would be more fun to spend real money.
I’m going to assume that I didn’t win the lottery on Wednesday. I did contribute a dollar or two to the cause, and in that way was generous to someone. You’re welcome.
Adam Breen teaches newspaper and yearbook classes at San Benito High School and is a reporter for The Pinnacle – assuming he isn’t a lottery winner. He is former editor of the Free Lance. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @AdamPBreen.
