Classic Rant #165 (January 5, 2010): A Lottery Good This Does

I don’t know if this news has come to your neck of the woods, but in New York, it is all the rage.

The winner of the $162 Million Mega Millions lottery ticket is just about ready to emerge from hiding.

Their lawyer has been out in force the past week, telling us sob stories about how the couple who bought the ticket out in Suffolk County have been down on their luck, and near financial ruin.

Of course, they found the money to purchase a lottery ticket, eschewing basic necessities, such as milk, eggs and bread, but they purchased the winning lottery ticket, so they will be awash in those things soon.

If they had not won, would they be able to eat the lottery ticket in the place of, let’s say, a sandwich?

Evidently, they were not on public assistance, so we can rest assured that they spent their own money on the ticket, and not ours.

Anyway, they will make themselves known later this week. Their lawyer said that they had to work out all the financials before emerging, and that is why it took so long for them to make themselves known.

He also said that he has been their personal lawyer for years. Somehow, I don’t think people in financial ruin retain a lawyer during times when they are so down on their luck. Have you ever heard of a poor person having a lawyer at hand? How can they afford to have a lawyer on retainer?

Well, good luck to them. Their lives will change, hopefully for the better, and what’s more, we won’t have to hear about these people ever again, which for me, is almost like winning the lottery … maybe a lottery for my overloaded brain, but the personal payoff to me is huge.

And it can’t be counted in dollars.