Jack Whittaker: un-luckiest lottery winner ever

i'm not going to lie when i say it would be very tempting to know that he parked his truck somewhere just sitting there with a half million dollars in it.who wouldn't take the chance knowing how careless he is.thats a lot of money.

Coin Toss, glad you wrote that.  I knew he gave away a lot of money to charity.  Regarding the bar situation, I agree that wasn't too bright as you stated, but it doesn't make him a terrible sinner who's going to burn in Hell either.  Just a pitiful person with very bad judgment. Heck, I've made some good friends in pretty low places. LOL  (like on a lottery board!)  I don't drink a lot and I hate smoke, so I'm not much fun at bars, but we all have our faults and our secrets.  He's not a child molester, just a sorry soul who needs years of therapy and rehab.

By the way, I don't like the expression "he/she is asking for it."  It's true that many people might as well put a bullseye on their backs, but if you are careless enough to leave your home unlocked, does that mean a burglar has the right to steal?  I left my laptop at Mel's Diner when I interviewed for a job last year.  It was still under the table when I drove back and ran in panicking, but if someone had walked off with it, would that be my fault?  People who make bad mistakes or foolish choices do have to be held accountable. However, it doesn't give the offender any more of a right to commit a crime.  When a young woman scantily dressed is attacked, people often say "she asked for it" but they don't say that when the victim of the same crime is an 80 year old grandmother. We are conditioned to look at the individual and not the circumstances. That's why that teacher whom the judge said was "too pretty to go to jail" got such a light sentence, even though she's a pedophile who had sex with a little boy.

Justxploring

"By the way, I don't like the expression "he/she is asking for it." "

Ok, in a moral or ethical sense, probably not, although there have been crooks use that very argument, "I had no intention of stealing anything, but they left their car door unlocked and the briefcase on the seat, tney were asking for it." 

But in this sense I'd say he was absolutely "asking for it":

Think about it:

Police:

Where were you going?

JW

To watch the dancers and have a few drinks.

Police:

And just why did you carry a half a million dollars in cash with you to go there?

________________________________________________ 

I used to teach self-defense to females (a lot easier to teach) and in a sense of "Street smarts", then yes, definitley, Whattaker was "asking for it."

Consider the top three rules of self-defense:

AVOID BAD PEOPLE.

AVOID BAD PLACES.

AVOID BAD SITUATIONS.  

By hanging out at strip bars old Jack went 0 for 3 right there, by hanging out there and being a known multi-millionaire jackpot winner, he really went 0 for 3, and then some.

One of the drills we used to do in the class was have some girls walk passed guys at a stadium or in a mall, and have the guys say, "Yo, come here, Babe."

 A STRANGER WANTS SOMETHING FROM YOU, JUST KEEP GOIING. 

Another was this:

You're waiting for an elevator. There's a guy in a business suit, and a guy that looks like a Hells Angel.  Which one do you get in an elevator with  (by yourself)? 

NEITHER ONE. 

JW hasn't asked for anything, but he sure has advertised.......

Huh ?

You're waiting for an elevator. There's a guy in a business suit, and a guy that looks like a Hells Angel.  Which one do you get in an elevator with  (by yourself)? 

NEITHER ONE. 

Coin Toss, I've been exactly in that situation.  I usually go into the elevator.  I suppose worrying about offending someone or being politically correct is stupid when it comes to safety, so  you do make sense. I was only referring to that "he (or she) asked for it" comment I hear over and over again from people who wouldn't say that if they were the victims.  I wish we lived in a world where we didn't have to be so cautious.  Yes, leaving all that money in a car is more than stupid. I lock a few dollars in my glove box for emergencies and unexpected tolls, but I won't even walk around with more than $10 or $20 in my wallet.   Yet after being in retail, I know that people often have thousands in their wallets.  When I sold carpet or tile, it wasn't unusual for a customer to pay in cash.  It was as commons when I sold furniture, but once in a while someone would buy a $2,000 bedroom set for cash. I figured they were spending money they didn't report, but that's not necessarily true.

If I won the lottery, I can assure you I would never walk around with suitcases full of money! 

As DoubleDown said, he "advertsied" -  ok, for most people that's exactly right, but in criminal circles that "advertising" is perceived as asking for it.

A study done on street crime suggested carrying at least a $20 to throw on the ground for any assailant. In a lot of cases they'll take the $20 and run.  

CT, I think tossing the the $20 bill is a great idea !!

While they are reaching for the $20 I will pull my
glock from my belt ( under my clothing ) , and cap their ass...
then get my $20 back.

...DD

I can't believe it...I remember when that lottery was 315 and i remember when he won...The thing is that i knew this was going to happen to him and that a construction company was involved too...What i didn't know was that it was in 2002...My question is, why carry 500,000 dollars in your car....This series of Unfortunate events gives the country a bad image...

"Laura Simpson, from Great Lakes, Illinois, deserves to be rich.."      "She is so rare..."

I do too.  If you go through his hometown and talk with folks there he is considered someone who kinda got what he had coming.  His fame, etc, and donations to his church were good, his management of himself and his money rather suspect.  A lot of folks I talked to felt sorry for him, which is ironic considering the cash he won, and his wealth prior to it.

One thing a few locals told me, that I hadn't heard and couldn't verify, was that his construction companies did the work on the new churches built by his donations. 

 As for his current 'loss of cash' I wonder, like others here, if that's true.  It may be his 'liquid assets' if anything, meaning the rest may be tied up in long term investments, etc.  Whatever the case, his behavior wasn't a surprise to the locals.