Comments on: Sucks to be Marjorie

By: Cedarflame

Cedarflame — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:06:32 +0000

She is not entitled to squat. New girl really lucky person, Maj not so much.

By: Choochoo

Choochoo — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:12:38 +0000

Technically, she’s not entitled to any cash. But if I was a part of this group and won a million bucks, I’d take the girl out for some shopping and dinner, or hired her a hot stripper, or something.

By: Jazz

Jazz — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:01:24 +0000

I imagine a few people did go to bat for Marjorie, honestly, I probably would have even though technically she’s not entitled – although the cut would no doubt not been enough for her. Thing is, it’s a majority call. And when it comes to money, the majority will always go for their pocket.

As for your what if question, if her last contribution brought in some money that was reinvested in the winning ticket, she is definitely entitled to her full share. Seems obvious to me.

By: XUP

XUP — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:36:35 +0000

CP – That’s a terrible statistic. I can’t believe the majority of people would be so short-sighted. But then you see it all the time with celebrities, too. All that money just makes them nuts or something. It IS an overwhelming thought if you consider winning like 30 million or something — one or two you could deal with, but when it gets really big???

Deb – I think you’re exactly right – it’s the “what ifs” that are making her crazy. And I also think she’s generally not a very happy person and the lottery thing just helps her to focus her overall dissatisfaction with life.

Lesley – Still, I’m sure everyone has had some moment in their life that they let pass by that in retrospect they think might have changed their lives for the better (or even worse). It’s all part of life really and we just have to move on.

Geewits – Yours is a good example to my point to Lesley and not too dissimilar to Marjorie’s story. We all have some regrets somewhere along the line, but we can’t let them overshadow everything, forever.

UP – Ya, I try to stay away from them, too. People always waggle the sheet in my face and tell me I’ll be sorry when they hit the big one and maybe I will be, but then I figure there’ll be lots of room for advancement at work once all those new millionaires quit. There’s always a silver lining!!

By: Urban Panther

Urban Panther — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:50:48 +0000

A. Do you agree with the group’s decision? – Absolutlel!It goes on a lottery by lottery basis. You didn’t chip in, you didn’t chip in. It has nothing to do with how long you’ve been contributing. Did you contribute THIS time?
C. What if you’re part of a lottery group like this and you’re on vacation one week and forget to kick in your $2 and they win? – I think it really needs to be the same response as A. Do you get to go away and forget to pay your bills? No, you take care of business before you leave. If the lottery is important to you, take care of that before you leave.
D. What if someone else kicks in $2 for you the week you’re away because you’ve forgotten? (without you asking them to) They win. Do you have any right to the winnings? – yes, your $2 is covered. And you better treat your friend extra special. Not to mention giving them their $2 back.

And this would be why I do not participate in lottery pools.

By: geewits

geewits — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:56:05 +0000

I agree with what Jazz said.
After my father died, part of my inheritance was through a life insurance company. They set up some sort of account that I could write checks from. I also had other moneys in other types of accounts. When I made big purchases, I would use the life insurance account for no particular reason. Well just as this account was dwindling down, that company went public and anyone with money in their company (like my account) got free stock based on the monetary value of their account. For years off and on, I would be frustrated thinking, “Why was I using THAT account?” or “Why couldn’t this stock thing have happened when the account was so much bigger?” Now when it even occurs to me to think about it, I just laugh at myself. Timing is everything and mine was off. I figure it was meant to be, for whatever purpose. It is what it is. I can’t imagine not being able to make peace with it, though. That must be horrible. Poor Marjorie!

By: lesleykim

lesleykim — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:57:30 +0000

This is a tough one for sure. Unfortunately it is what it is and right or wrong, she’s being robbed of more than money now because of her inability (so far anyway) to let it go. And she’s stealing from herself. Sad.

While I do think technically the group is right to not HAVE to give her anything…in my heart is still feels ethically right to at least kick something over to her. (However, XUP, your questioning of where does it end…buy a new ticket and that wins and then what, etc. does make for a nifty gray area.)

Life is short and I tend to believe things happen as they’re supposed to. But of course that’s easy for me to say as no large windfall of money has ever come CLOSE to landing on me! I hope she can find some peace in herself eventually.

By: Deb

Deb — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:39:03 +0000

Ugh. This is interesting. I actually think her problem is doubting herself, and she is projecting it on them because they didn’t save her from her decision to leave that workplace before the big win. What ifs are the killers. She could have controlled a lot of things if she knew it was coming (not leave, think about leaving the pool and ask is she could still be a part of it), and she is kicking herself, but it’s easier to blame. Regret sucks. Gotta move on, poor thing.

By: The Casual Perfectionist

The Casual Perfectionist — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:06:32 +0000

Well, one could say that she wasn’t supposed to win it, because she didn’t.

I read somewhere (and now can’t find the statistic) that a large percentage of people who win large sums of unexpected money have lost it all in a matter of just three years, and they are right back where they started. They may have some cool toys out of the deal, but it wasn’t an end-all-be-all.

I wish I could find the quote! Oh well.

Money doesn’t guarantee happiness. Yes, money gives us choices and those choices can make us happy, but there are no guarantees. Marjorie strikes me as the kind of person who wouldn’t be happy even if she did win oodles of money 5 years ago.

Like you said…sucks to be Marjorie.

By: XUP

XUP — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:40:59 +0000

Bcky – I know you’re right. Things like this, at least, need to have the rules well in place or all sorts of crazy stuff could result in the event of a big win.