Twenty-five or 12, It’s All Millions to Me!
Caroline Selby
Commentary Editor
Say it out loud. Twenty-five million dollars.
Listen to the syllables as they roll off your tongue. Twenty-five MILLION dollars.
That’s how much the winner of the first Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Powerball won recently after purchasing a ticket at a Crackerbox convenience store in Mayflower.
For a $1 investment the lucky ticket bearer, according to KATV News, opted to take the $12.2 million cash pay-out option. According to the Channel 7 website, Arkansas lottery attorney Bishop Woosley said the winner, whose name and hometown have not yet been announced, will be paid within 14 days.
The ticket was sold on Jan. 2. Wait … Jan. 2? Why wait almost a full month to redeem your ticket and receive your winnings? My friends and I have joked, on more than one occasion, on what we would do if we ever won the lottery. Rush to the lottery office to claim the prize money was always at the top of the list.
According to eHow.com, the first step recommended for a lottery winner is to stay quiet.
What? How on earth can you stay quiet about $25 million or $12.2 million? I know myself pretty well, and I’m pretty sure if I was able to claim a winning lottery ticket, the general population in three counties would know simply from my running through the streets celebrating.
The point, according to the website, is so the winner can daydream about ways to spend the money. Make practical plans for its use and find out the state’s laws regarding collection of winnings.
Yes, yes, I know one should be practical. There’s not a lot of splurging on the list of objects I’d like to purchase with lottery earnings. I’d like to pay off my house, put money back for my children’s college funds, buy a new vehicle (a new Dodge Grand Caravan with “Stow ‘N Go” seating), and donate part of the money to a few non-profits in the area I support. All of these items are very, very practical; even the vehicle.
Now, for those of you who are not supporters of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, imagine your long-lost great-great Aunt Sallie Ann passed away at the ripe old age of 94, after she’d lived a long, healthy, happy life. Prosperous Aunt Sallie Ann watched you grow up from afar and always vowed she’d help you and your family. She did this, financially, through her Last Will and Testament to the tune of $12.2 million. Are you daydreaming now?
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