MITCH ALBOM: Win the big lottery, spoil the marriage

Comment #15

tg636 — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 22:14:06 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by acronym007 on January 11, 2005Money, obtained overnight is difficlut to appreciate because you can have it all now. What that mean is that value object now becomes distorted. A hummer for any kid under 18 is absurd but if you have the money, why not? I guess the one thing we can all try to take from this it that it's not all free and easy. The path to true wealth comes from hard work and labour. Giving a child something they never earned is very dangerous, I know I wo... [ More ]

Comment #14

acronym007 — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 21:13:29 GMT

good points, I agree with both. Commitment went out the door once women felt to the need to sleep with every guy they met JUST BECUASE THEY CAN.

Comment #13

ebarbre — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 18:59:53 GMT

You know, this article, while slanted, is really remarkable and brings up quite a few problems I have with the world today. First off, people need to understand that just because you win the lottery, all your responsibilities won't go away. If anything, you have more. I worked in a stock broking firm for quite a while and the one thing that I took from there above anything else is this: the rich stay rich because they don't spend frivolously. They are cheap. One of the broker's there was w... [ More ]

Comment #12

konane — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 17:41:27 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on January 12, 2005MITCH ALBOM: Win the big lottery, spoil the bad marriageRJOh

Comment #11

RJOh — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 17:26:27 GMT

MITCH ALBOM: Win the big lottery, spoil the bad marriageRJOh

Comment #10

konane — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 13:11:13 GMT

jim695 and hitchaser both make excellent points that we rarely hear good stories about how lottery wins have benefited people ..... because bad news sells and the MSM has been stuck in the rut of sensationalism and tragedy for years. Seems that winning the lottery puts the winner under a magnifying glass amplifying both good and bad in their lives ... winning any amount merely provides a different set of lessons to be learned. Just another chapter of life on center stage.

Comment #9

Phokas — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 10:43:46 GMT

I wish all of this never would have happened, his wife said. I wish I would have torn the ticket up. Well, it's not too late to give all of it away and go back to a minimum wage job somewhere. Everybody will suffer a misfortune, like a death in the family, at some point in our lives. But the pity-me-because-I'm-rich crowd don't deserve special sympathy from anybody.

Comment #8

hitchaser — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 05:06:29 GMT

players,mitch uses the example of less than half a dozen people from three countries to suggest thatwinning the lottery isn't such a good idea after all. he never tells us the total number of newlottery millionaires generated each year and what happens to them or their new found wealth.if you ask me, mark twain was right; there are lies, damned lies and statistics!hitchaser...

Comment #7

Maverick — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 04:35:24 GMT

Yea I was gonna say the relationship was already rocky to begin with, so don't blame the lottery win.Well at least I got a good laugh out of one line in the article: women envision a life unburdened by the fat slobs they've been putting up with for years.

Comment #6

jim695 — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 02:08:27 GMT

I'll take my chances.Tg636 is right; in each example, the couple was already having problems, so to blame their respective marital troubles on a lottery windfall is ludicrous.While I agree the article is well-written and somewhat informative, I resent the fact that it's written with such an obvious bias. The message here seems to be, Don't play the lottery because, if you win, it will ruin your marriage and there's nothing you can do to stop it. As a writer, I understand that every story needs... [ More ]

Comment #5

acronym007 — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 00:57:05 GMT

Money, obtained overnight is difficlut to appreciate because you can have it all now. What that mean is that value object now becomes distorted. A hummer for any kid under 18 is absurd but if you have the money, why not? I guess the one thing we can all try to take from this it that it's not all free and easy. The path to true wealth comes from hard work and labour. Giving a child something they never earned is very dangerous, I know I would have probaly hurt someone with a SUV or Hummer at age... [ More ]

Comment #4

Littleoldlady — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 22:29:44 GMT

I agree with the general idea but I don't for once think that ALL lottery players go through these changes. The faults that I see were already well on their way to becoming reality. The Wittaker family forgot about community and family . You have a responsibility to take care of them and not to use money as a pacifier to those who are not used to it. To some people, money is just as dangerous as a loaded gun. If you play with a gun without the safety on, dventually someone will get hurt... [ More ]

Comment #3

winner2b — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 21:55:29 GMT

Quote: Originally posted by lottoshlep on January 11, 2005We tend to hear about the problem winners, probably because that is deemed more newsworthy. There must hundreds of others who had few if any problems adjusting to their newfound wealth. But, that's gotta be the lotto-quote of the year, LOL ... I can't see see anyone doing that ... not in this lifetime, but then again you never know

Comment #2

tg636 — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 19:41:34 GMT

I don't disagree with his analysis, but in the cases he cited, the couples were already in the process of breaking up...the lottery just greased the skids and speeded up the proceedings. Yes, the wives wanted millions, but if they had bought the ticket the husbands would have wanted millions. I would interested in hearing about couples where everything was going fine before winning and lottery money caused the break up. If I won $90 million and my wife wanted divorce and $45 million, I would gi... [ More ]

Comment #1

lottoshlep — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 18:14:00 GMT

Quote: You wonder if someone will come forward, winning ticket in hand, look at the swath of ruined lives, crushed marriages, exploded families and down-and-out former millionaires, and say, You know what? It's not worth it. ----------------We tend to hear about the problem winners, probably because that is deemed more newsworthy. There must hundreds of others who had few if any problems adjusting to their newfound wealth. But, that's gotta be the lotto-quote of the year, LOL ... I can't se... [ More ]

MITCH ALBOM: Win the big lottery, spoil the marriage

Lottery Post — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 15:51:01 GMT

I'm sure winning the lottery is good for something. But that something obviously isn't marriage.Take the recent case of Robert Swofford, a postal worker in Florida. He had been separated from his wife for three years. That's a long time to be separated. That's longer than many marriages. You figure that much time apart, you might as well finalize it. But they never got around to it.Then Swofford won the lottery. A fat $60 million. And wouldn't you know it? Just like that, his wife served him wit... [ More ]