Lottery magic

The Megamillions lottery grew to a monstrous amount; the hype was growing as well. I watched each day as the numbers leapt higher and higher and knew that I too, would purchase a chance at being richer than rich. There were so many butterflies in my stomach that I was sure that if someone looked closely enough, they'd see them banging around through my shirt, like someone was inside trying to punch their way out.

With that being said, I also noticed something that I've never really experienced before. EVERYONE was in on this and everyone became...well.....nice! Regardless of the fact that each had a one in 176 million chance to win, the fact was that they could in fact win. People dared to dream and dared to share their dream, with perfect strangers. There was a lilt in their step, a song in their voice and a sparkle in their eye. They grinned like the Cheshire cat.

This lottery, whether it was bogus or not, allowed people to envision a different life where money woes do not exist. Let's face it, it's tough out there and for a short while, people relaxed a bit, dreamed a bit, hoped a bit. They let down some of their walls and shared themselves, excited at the prospect of financial bliss. Doors were held open, smiles were given away for free and anxious chatter could be heard anywhere and everywhere. "What's the first thing you're gonna do with all that money?" was the leading question. Visions of retirement, vacations, new homes, new cars, trust funds, donations to loved organizations and so much more, were flitting around the atmosphere like comets on a dark night.

I admit that I enjoyed the ride; it was so easy to become involved in the hype. I enjoyed listening to people's dreams and I enjoyed sharing mine. The excitement was infectious; it spread like wildfire.

Then the bomb dropped. No surprise there. The dawn of Saturday brought the truth to light, that only 3 people won that enormous jackpot. The funny thing is that people weren't really disappointed. They joked about it. I went marketing on Saturday and an employee of the market waved me over. "Hi there, I'm still here" she said with a laugh. "But I had fun daydreaming!" That same general consensus was around all weekend. People really didn't expect to win and grinned like "Denver the guilty dog" when they discovered the winning number didn't match theirs. Tickets were crumbled and tossed into the waste basket without a second look.

That megamillion jackpot didn't change any lives around here, but it changed people's attitudes, at least for a little while. There's a lot of people that don't give credence to "the dreamers", but hey, sometimes dreams do come true. And for those of us with crumbled tickets in our trash, at least we had a good "Calgon" moment! I do say it was worth being carried on the wind for awhile.