Seventy-Five Million

The sign for the Mega Millions the other day was $75 million dollars. 

Over 30 years, that's:

75/10=7.5

7.5/3=2.5

$2.5 million a year.

Say I was one of five winners; I would win $15 million.

Say I was one of ten winners; I would win $7.5 million. 

$500,000 or $250,000 a year for thirty years. Think you could live on that? 

I was thinking of being a big winner, and what kinds of things I could do with it. There are organizations that work with sex workers; trying to help them where they are; trying to help them leave that life and prosper after. There is an organization that I have volunteered with, and there is an organization that was featured on Oprah and/or CNN or CNBC, that I know are doing good work. If I could, I would give them $500,000 the first year; $1 million the second year; and $2 million the third year. I'd love to see what they could do with such a boost; what they could grow or make happen.

There are lots of people who are doing great work, who could use some kind of help to do more great work. What I really should be doing; what we all should be doing, is giving our time to these things; the investment of time is light years more valuable to the health of a society. If you think about your own life and the struggles you face, the investment of someone's time into your life would probably make a more vast difference than a bundle of money. 

Turn that around and think about someone whose life you could invest some time in. You may think your are poor in resources, but I would bet there is someone who is poorer than you; who could use an investment of you. Tutoring and mentoring can be just an hour a week. Same thing for CASA volunteers. Babysit somewhere. Teach English. Lend a hand. It is our selves that are the most valuable commodity that we possess. 

When It Was 400 Million

You know what I thought those days? Even if I won ten percent, it would still be HUGE. Even if I won one percent, that would still be shitload of money. (I'm still amused that the iPad's spellcheck doesn't recognize profanity.) 

But here were some thoughts I had on what I could do with the money.

1. Buy luxury health insurance for all my co-workers at the store.

2. Pay for food trucks to come provide low-cost or free lunch to my co-workers at the store.

3. Personally re-finance my friend's Mom's home loan with an awesome (or non-existent rate).

4. Put that friend's sister through college.

5. In fact, those are one percent or ten percent dreams. In the full-blown version, I offer a college education to anyone 25 and under in my neighborhood (which is largely working class). I'd even pay for adults to go back to school, if they were motivated.

6. I'd love to be able to put commercials on television, especially now during the shutdown.

7. I'd like to offer the neighborhood the chance to have their houses fixed up or renovated free of charge.

8. I'd like to set up small programs to show how they could be done - and should be done, as far as I'm concerned - that help train people for jobs and take care of pregnant teens or provide options for a woman considering abortion.

9. I'd like to hire organizers to drive programs that I believe can be done by people power as opposed to federal money. I'd like to shame the Republicans by showing them how it could be done and how they never do it.