Ohio man forgot his winning $50 lotto ticket at home when he went to cash it. So he bought another and hit the jackpot

The Independent - UK ^ | October 31, 2025 | Erin Keller

[Red Badger]

“The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant. Where the Lottery was concerned, even people who could barely read and write seemed capable of intricate calculations and staggering feats of memory. There was a whole tribe of men who made their living simply by selling systems, forecasts, and lucky amulets. Winston had nothing to do with the Lottery, which was managed by the Ministry of Plenty, but he was aware (indeed everyone in the party was aware) that the prizes were largely imaginary. Only small sums were actually paid out, the winners of the big prizes being nonexistent persons.”
― George Orwell, 1984

[Red Badger]

“So long as they (the Proles) continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern...Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.”
― George Orwell, 1984

[af_vet_1981]

Back in the late 80s I knew a man who won $4.5 million - lotta money 30 + years ago. He took $17k monthly for 20 years. He still managed to go broke long before the 20 years was used up. Last I saw him he was running a register in a convenience store.

Beyond getting and divorcing 3 wives, child support I don’t know what else he did. I do know that his father somewhere along the way had to take over his finances, etc.

It takes the grace of God to survive the temptations and trials in this world. The love of money, not the money itself, is the root of all evil. We are all on trial, being tested, and the one who is faithful with little, should be faithful with a lot.

James 1:16-18
Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.