weeks ago i invested in the lottery for the first time. each of us at work contributed $5 and the winnings would be split among 20 people. We won $10...total.
i didn't take part for the obvious (640 million) reasons. i did it because i didn't want to be the only one left at work if my coworkers won.
after the tickets were purchased we talked about what we would do. resiging was popular. one person wanted us to buy the company and make it a better place to work(i offered to sell her my share). one wanted to buy a house. another said the money would help with starting a family. i would pay off the mortgage on my parent's house and then relocate to a gated-community.
then it got ugly after everyone received a copy of the tickets we had purchased. there had to be a list of who contributed. someone suggested we all sign something promising we wouldn't sue each other. maybe the tickets should be placed under lock and key another said. maybe the tickets should be split up and held by multiple people. maybe we should all stay at work until the numbers were announced.
later that day i was waiting with some friends for the numbers to be announced. before the results one friend said to me, "if i win, i'm giving you 5 million dollars. i'm going to share the money. it's way too much for me to spend it all". it was such a different attitude from what i saw at work.
on monday there were no resignation letters. someone suggested buying more tickets with the winnings but most weren't interested. my department bought gummies with our winnings. sour and sweet reminders of how we almost let millions of dollars come between us.
11 years ago