Most of the rants I do on this site are about either entertainment or
politics, and traditionally have been on Fridays. While I still have a Friday rant planned for this week, I
couldn’t let this one go, and since it’s not on a topic we traditionally
discuss here (or likely ever will again) and it’s going to be short, I figured
we could make a Wednesday exception.
Much has been made about “Wild” Willie Seeley and his wife Nancy
calling their $3.8 million lottery win a curse. It is widely-known that with the champagne wishes and caviar
dreams that come with winning the lottery, you also get your share of
misery. Scams, threats, relatives
you never knew existed-they all come out of the woodwork ten times over when
millions of dollars are at stake.
With this, some lottery winners state that winning the lottery is the
worst thing to ever happen to them, and to them, I say, “HOGWASH!”
Seriously, I understand that I will never have the opportunity that
these people have (I play the lottery, but like all of you, I won’t ever win
it). But it’s not like we don’t
live in a world without Google.
Every single one of these people knows what is in store for them when
they decide to cash in that ticket, but personal responsibility comes into play
with winning and managing a large sum of money. I don’t get how some of these people think that spending
ostentatiously and having a wildly different lifestyle won’t impact the rest of
their lives and their children’s lives.
I’d recite common advice on what to do if you win the lottery, but I don’t
need to, because there are hundreds of
websites that feature the same pieces of advice; every time the Powerball or
Mega Millions hits $300 million or so, you see the same warnings about taxes
and signing the ticket and getting a lawyer.
The sad thing is that most of the problems that happen as a result of
winning the lottery are so easily controllable. If you don’t want people asking you for money, get an
unlisted number, or just tell them no.
It’s your money, not there’s.
If you don’t want your children to act like brats, don’t spoil them
incessantly (this is true for people who don’t win the lottery as well, for the
record). If you don’t want to lose
all of your money, hire a strong financial planner and take a vested interest
in how your money is doing; take a course on money management or budgeting if
you’re worried-you can certainly afford it now. You were able to manage a budget before and have a job-now
your job is this sum of money that you have.
Because the reality is, most people have to struggle to make ends
meet. Most people aren’t so greedy
that they wouldn’t settle for less than the $200 million in the Powerball, and would be grateful for just about any unexpected help. And your complaints sound horribly
selfish to people who don’t have the luxury of millions of dollars-we all have
problems, but it’s hard to feel sorry for people who can pay to get rid of
them.
I will say one thing, though, in defense of the lottery complainers (so
as not to sound too bitter and judgmental). I do think they should be able to accept their winnings
anonymously. The government can
monitor state and national lotteries if they so choose to ensure someone is winning the lottery in those
states, but I don’t think people should be forced to give their names to the
public, making them a target for scams, threats, and a lot of the issues that
befall winners. But that’s the
only thing I’ll allow. You just
won the lottery: congrats and stop your whining.
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