A couple of $1 tickets bearing the magic numbers were sold in the Mega Millions lottery that delivered nearly $335 million to the winners who had not yet been identified when this was written.
Thousands upon thousands lined up Tuesday to buy a ticket.
“Everybody else is doing it, from New York to California,” said George Okparaji, as he waited in a 500-person line. “Folks need money, right?”
Well, folks do need money, that’s for sure. But the lure of the lottery lies elsewhere. The two winners each will wind up with $100 million or so, after taxes, and find themselves catapulted into the super-rich bracket. It’s like finding a real Aladdin’s lamp; having a personal genie. A dreams-come-true maker.
People don’t buy Mega Millions tickets because they need money for food or clothing or a night out on the town. They buy because the dollar they hand over gives them a chance — and the buyers know how miniscule those chances are — at stepping into an entirely different life, with powers that only a handful have.
Meant to buy one myself. Just didn’t get around to it.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
