If I won the lottery, my first reactions would be shock, of course, and surprise, because I have never in my life bought a lottery ticket. I don’t think I’ve ever even been given one as a gift–the lottery just doesn’t appeal to me, for a variety of reasons.
Most importantly, I suppose, is that there is such a minuscule chance of one actually winning the lottery, that the money spent on a lottery ticket is practically guaranteed to simply have been wasted–a portion of it goes to the state lottery coffers, I suppose, and a portion goes to whomever ends up winning the pot, but how many people, especially those who regularly purchase lottery tickets, ever end up with more money from the lottery than they began with?
Secondly, gambling in general is an addictive thing for certain people, and I don’t know but what I might be one of them. If I were to venture a purchase of a ticket for a few dollars and it resulted in even just a few dollars more of a payout, I can’t say whether I might be tempted to try it again. And again, and again, and so on…there are hundreds of thousands of very sad stories of lives ruined by addiction to gambling.
Playing the lottery is definitely not my thing.
However, I understand I haven’t really answered the question, which was about what I would do if I were to win the lottery, say a sum of millions of dollars (some of the jackpots these days are ridiculously large)? My first instinct would be to give a fairly sizable portion of my winnings away, to combat poverty, hunger, social injustice, and the like. A healthy portion would be invested in ways that insured that my wife would be well-cared-for if I were to precede her in death, and that she and I would never become a financial burden to our children. Some would almost certainly be used to fund some long-awaited international (and domestic) travels. There are a lot of places and things we would still love to see in person.
And if there were a few hundred dollars left over, I might be sorely tempted to purchase a new guitar.
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(Posted in response to 1/28/2024 prompt.)
doug heacock: words 