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February 19, 2004

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Sympathy for the devil

It's obviously not easy once you've won US$18 million in the lottery.

Michael Carroll picked up his $18 million lottery check wearing a court-issued electronic tracing tag...recently pleaded guilty to drug possession. He also is accused of receiving $2,000 worth of stolen power tools...from the $2,500 fine he paid for ducking $9.50 train fares before he came into his fortune, to the $1,500 he handed over to a transport company whose school bus he had defaced.

His lawyer, Neil Meachem, told a judge after Carroll's most-recent guilty plea that he had been having marital troubles - news reports say his wife left him - and that his 2002 winnings were partly to blame for his many troubles.

Which just goes to prove that I've never got a change in the lottery because:
1. I'm not a criminal or
2. I'm not an old-age pensioner eating my last few cans of dog food or
3. I've not lost a near relative in a tragic accident and been struggling with the mortgage ever since.

Middle class lottery winners do not exist.

But there's good news.

The National Lottery emphasized that Carroll's situation was unusual, saying that 98 percent of the 1,600 millionaires and multimillionaires it's created since its inception a decade ago report being as happy or happier than they were before their wins.
Only 98%! That leaves 32 people who bemoan their good fortune in winning a fortune. If they don't want it I can think of at least one person who would be happy to help.

And I hearby offer myself to see if winning millions in the lottery can make you happier. (The answer's yes).

 posted by Simon on 02.19.04 at 12:46 PM in the




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