I said I would do this again. Just write a story and
continue it for a few posts, no editing, just type it live each time and see
where it goes. Well here is the start of this story:
It all started because of a lottery ticket. It wasn’t
because of layoffs, bad job market, no real wage increase in years, people
having to work two, many times three jobs to pay bills, inflation was rampant,
there was no credit to buy anything, healthy food was very expensive and very
hard to come by, doctors and dentists were unaffordable, yet the government was
paying a fortune in health care, taxes were unbearable for the middle class and
yet was lowered again for the upper class, no, none of this caused people to
get upset; it was the damn lottery ticket.
The lottery had become a complete waste of money. Odds were
continually going against the consumer, yet people kept buying. It seemed to be
the only hope for a large majority of the population. Sales were always high
and the states were making good money since there were not very many winners.
Occasionally someone would win a significant amount, maybe 5 or ten thousand
dollars. This was big news. For the person that won, it was gone in a flash,
but it was hope for way too many people.
So when Jack actually won $25,000 he was very excited. He
didn’t tell anyone. He had spent way too much money on Friday from his
paycheck, but now it was worth it. Sure he wouldn’t be able to retire, but
there were many bills, especially those payday loans, he could pay which would
certainly increase his paychecks going forward. The weekend was long, very
long, but he knew next week things would get much better. He barely slept.
Monday he went to work. He decided to wait a couple of days before cashing it
in. He needed time to think about making a real budget. Jack was in his
mid-thirties and he had never had money, well not this much money. And he
really wanted to make the best decisions he could. He knew deep in his heart
and mind this was a fluke and would never happen again. He also hoped to quit
playing the lottery now that he won.
Wednesday he went to the regional lottery office in his
town. He felt fortunate that there was one close to his work so he could run
over on his lunch hour and cash it so he could deposit it in the bank. As
always he brought a sandwich to work so he could eat it on the way. He also
knew that the check would be held by the bank for days. He was okay with all
this since he won. Yes, winning does help he thought. He was able to think
things through for the last couple of days. He was use to struggling so waiting
a week or two to actually have the money was no problem.
The lottery office apologized and said they couldn’t give
him a check today. Something was wrong with the system they said. They asked
him to come back tomorrow.
He came on Thursday. Still nothing. Friday, they let him
know everything was okay, he just needed to wait till next week. Jack was being
patient, but he felt something was wrong. He didn’t want to tell anyone he won
because he knew there would be hundreds of requests from family and friends for
help. He wanted to have the money so he could help the people that he wanted
and make the best for himself. Yet now he did want to talk to someone. He just
didn’t know who he could trust. He had friends, hundreds of them if you counted
social media outlets. No one close. He thought about his Mom, but she would
tell him what to do with the money and he knew much of it was going to be for
her. He would help her, but in his own way.
This weekend was also very long. He spent most of the
weekend staring at the ticket. Monday was busy at work so he didn’t have time
to go on his lunch.
The regional lottery office was going to be helpless. The State
office told them not to give this winner a check. At least not right now. Just
stall they said. They didn’t give the local office any idea how to stall, but
to just stall.
Turns out the State had become very use to having this
lottery money and hadn’t put much aside for winners so currently the lottery
funds for winners was empty. Every dime going into the lottery was being used
by State officials for pet projects, going on trips, spending on various budge
items; which were actually personal items and occasionally on actual State
expenditures where their friends’ companies could do the work and receive the
money. Basically the State was broke and could not afford to cash the check.
The daily intake of lottery sales went straight to the legislators and nowhere
else.
And the State office knew if a lottery ticket bounced it
could mean real trouble. The legislators weren’t up to realizing this because
they didn’t talk to their constituents on a day to day basis, actually they
didn’t talk to them at all. As long as they got money from the donors for
campaign contributions, their world was perfect. Yes, it was perfect. They didn’t
know it yet, but the present was about to change. The lottery offices did talk
to people every day. People were always coming in and asking if anyone won, who
it was, how much and basically they heard from the people day in and day out
how tough it was, plus they were just clerks. They were in the same boat as the
customers they came in contact with day in and day out.
The State office spent the week trying to funnel money into
an account they could use to pay this check. And as of Monday they still couldn’t
put aside money to pay. The legislators, Governor and executives in the
government kept a close eye on lottery sales and made sure the money was
distributed right away to them. One official from the office actually called
the Governor’s office to let him know there was a winner they needed to pay. He
pleaded the case that announcing a winner would increase sales. The Governor
let the official know he needed his share and the official should find the
winnings from somewhere else.
Another week went by with Jack frustrated and angry now. Finally,
he gave in and put his dilemma on one of his social media sights. Well actually
he created a fake one so people wouldn’t know it was him. He explained what was
happening. He got a few comments to sue, people agreeing he was being screwed,
but for the first couple of days not much action. A couple of days later
someone who was very popular ran across his story and tagged it to his sight.
It gained momentum overnight
First there were hundreds, then thousands discussing this
and wanted to know it if was true. People started calling their State offices
to ask. And unfortunately most States were in the same boat as Jack’s state.
And some of the offices not being prepared for the onslaught of calls made the
mistake of admitting it might be hard to receive a check sometimes. And there
were a couple of people from other States having the same problem as Jack. Now
they came forward. Soon nothing else was being discussed through social media.
The fact other people were not getting their checks cashed
was reported through the same network that Jack’s news was reported. People
from all over the country were now interested if Jack could cash his check.
Most news outlets were controlled by politicians and the donors so news like
this didn’t make the major channels, yet the story was becoming so overwhelming
a local reporter unbeknownst to his boss went to the local office to check it
out. The clerk behind the counter couldn’t take it anymore since she felt sorry
for Jack and told the truth. And this reporter had called into the 5 O’clock
news report for the day live. His report began, State unable to cash lottery
check. Social media went nuts and before midnight that night the riots started.
No comments:
Post a Comment