Hitting the Jackpot!
I have to confess it here my friends -where else?- that I bought a lottery ticket, again. And again, I didn't win shit.
I know what you're thinking: that I'm weak. I feel like being part of those AA meetings when you start by saying "Hello, my name is Jean-Francois and I'm weak!", and then everybody replies tirely "Hello Jean-Francois". I'm weak my friends, I've known it for quite a while and I guess I still be -until I hit that damn jack pot!
One of the things that I like about buying the lottery, is certainly not the 30-minute drive all the way to South Carolina, but all those crazy ideas that come to my mind on how to spend the money.
I've always reached the conclusion that if I win, I won't go crazy buying this life and the next. I won't even tell anyone about it, I prefer to fly under the radar, so that all those poor souls that become my friends would be because they truly like me and not all those Swiss bank accounts, mutual funds, real estate and assets that I might own.
When it comes to spending the Jackpot, one thing that I know for sure is that I won't donate any money to the church -and I say this right here in the heart of the "Bible Belt", fearing to be stoned for such a heresy. I won't for two reasons: first because I don't go to church, I prefer go to the gym, or play tennis, or go rollerblading or read the news, perhaps chat with friends or just sleep. And second because the church is perhaps the wealthiest organization/corporation on the face of the planet. Hey! they sell salvation and eternal life once you die -or pass away-, isn't that a great business or what?
Even though my parents are fluent people, I might get a couple of toys for them to keep them happy. Unfortunately they won't get my friendship and company; ever since I remember I wanted to get the hell out of my house. I left when when I was 18-years old in order to do the mandatory military service in my country, and after that I went away to college in another city. But even before that, my heart was long gone from the house where I grew up and from my parents. I was the middle child with two sisters, and never really felt the love of my parents, but that's a whole different story.
My friends are all doing fine, so besides my company they'll get quite a few invitations to go eating/drinking/partying and alike, and of course I'll pick up the tab. I just think it makes no sense to reward my friends with toys and stuff, and it also doesn't make sense to tell them that I'm a rich dude now -well, if I hit the Jackpot of course.
As to changes in my life. . . the first thing I'll do is get the hell out of the Queen City (Charlotte, NC). Once I put my feet on the airplane, my laptop under my harm, I'll turn around to take one last look at this land and I'll swear never to come back again. Then I'll head back to my home country to see my family and friends -specially my friends. I'll then contact my good friends in Germany, France, England, China, Japan, Russia and Australia -whom I've been kind of neglecting for the last months- and perhaps will take a quick trip to visit some of them. Maybe not all, but for sure I'll go to Beijing and Paris for few weeks, perhaps a month or so, but no more than that.
BECAUSE I'll be sitting in front of the computer in order to apply to go to graduate school and get a master's degree in international relations, or perhaps political science or history, the subjects that are my passion and my hobby to read, discuss and write about. After that I might go for a PhD and will end up my days teaching history in a nice college or maybe a high school.
Along the way of course, I'll get me a "fine young lady" to share my life with. We will move to a nice little house on the suburbs and will have two or three kids, or four if she feels like it and we'll teach them to treasure what they have and to love and support each other. Perhaps we will live for one year in South America and one in Paris or Beijing so that they'll be expose to the world from a very early age, being able to understand that the planet outside the borders of the United States is not a barbaric land and that not everybody has to speak English and drive SUVs.
I'll never tell anyone about the lottery, not even my wife and kids. I'll bury that money deep inside mutual funds under their names, so that yhey can use it later in their lives with their families when they start having them. They'll have everything they need, but not all they want. I would try to make them appreciate the little things in life and the importance of relationships and memories among many other things.
For my wife, I'll love her and respect her and hopefully we'll be together until dead do us apart, or until we just couldn't live with each other any longer. People change, feelings change and at some point along the way those changes weight more than what hold us together, and the rope breaks in the thinnest part.
Who knows, perhaps one day I'll just open a coffee shop, hire few young, decent and energetic people and use my energy and charm running it. Or maybe I'll retire somewhere in the mountains or a beach and spend my time writing short stories, never to be published in my life time, but once I pass away someone will find them, stapple'em together, publish it and become a classic of the English literature. Then, 300 years into the future children whose parents have emigrated to Mars will have to read it to try to understand that crazy history of a once upon blue planet and how regular people use to live, love and die.
At that time I'll still be burning in hell of course; I've heard that eternity over there is quite a long time. . .
I know what you're thinking: that I'm weak. I feel like being part of those AA meetings when you start by saying "Hello, my name is Jean-Francois and I'm weak!", and then everybody replies tirely "Hello Jean-Francois". I'm weak my friends, I've known it for quite a while and I guess I still be -until I hit that damn jack pot!
One of the things that I like about buying the lottery, is certainly not the 30-minute drive all the way to South Carolina, but all those crazy ideas that come to my mind on how to spend the money.I've always reached the conclusion that if I win, I won't go crazy buying this life and the next. I won't even tell anyone about it, I prefer to fly under the radar, so that all those poor souls that become my friends would be because they truly like me and not all those Swiss bank accounts, mutual funds, real estate and assets that I might own.
When it comes to spending the Jackpot, one thing that I know for sure is that I won't donate any money to the church -and I say this right here in the heart of the "Bible Belt", fearing to be stoned for such a heresy. I won't for two reasons: first because I don't go to church, I prefer go to the gym, or play tennis, or go rollerblading or read the news, perhaps chat with friends or just sleep. And second because the church is perhaps the wealthiest organization/corporation on the face of the planet. Hey! they sell salvation and eternal life once you die -or pass away-, isn't that a great business or what?
Even though my parents are fluent people, I might get a couple of toys for them to keep them happy. Unfortunately they won't get my friendship and company; ever since I remember I wanted to get the hell out of my house. I left when when I was 18-years old in order to do the mandatory military service in my country, and after that I went away to college in another city. But even before that, my heart was long gone from the house where I grew up and from my parents. I was the middle child with two sisters, and never really felt the love of my parents, but that's a whole different story.
My friends are all doing fine, so besides my company they'll get quite a few invitations to go eating/drinking/partying and alike, and of course I'll pick up the tab. I just think it makes no sense to reward my friends with toys and stuff, and it also doesn't make sense to tell them that I'm a rich dude now -well, if I hit the Jackpot of course.
As to changes in my life. . . the first thing I'll do is get the hell out of the Queen City (Charlotte, NC). Once I put my feet on the airplane, my laptop under my harm, I'll turn around to take one last look at this land and I'll swear never to come back again. Then I'll head back to my home country to see my family and friends -specially my friends. I'll then contact my good friends in Germany, France, England, China, Japan, Russia and Australia -whom I've been kind of neglecting for the last months- and perhaps will take a quick trip to visit some of them. Maybe not all, but for sure I'll go to Beijing and Paris for few weeks, perhaps a month or so, but no more than that.
BECAUSE I'll be sitting in front of the computer in order to apply to go to graduate school and get a master's degree in international relations, or perhaps political science or history, the subjects that are my passion and my hobby to read, discuss and write about. After that I might go for a PhD and will end up my days teaching history in a nice college or maybe a high school.Along the way of course, I'll get me a "fine young lady" to share my life with. We will move to a nice little house on the suburbs and will have two or three kids, or four if she feels like it and we'll teach them to treasure what they have and to love and support each other. Perhaps we will live for one year in South America and one in Paris or Beijing so that they'll be expose to the world from a very early age, being able to understand that the planet outside the borders of the United States is not a barbaric land and that not everybody has to speak English and drive SUVs.
I'll never tell anyone about the lottery, not even my wife and kids. I'll bury that money deep inside mutual funds under their names, so that yhey can use it later in their lives with their families when they start having them. They'll have everything they need, but not all they want. I would try to make them appreciate the little things in life and the importance of relationships and memories among many other things.
For my wife, I'll love her and respect her and hopefully we'll be together until dead do us apart, or until we just couldn't live with each other any longer. People change, feelings change and at some point along the way those changes weight more than what hold us together, and the rope breaks in the thinnest part.
Who knows, perhaps one day I'll just open a coffee shop, hire few young, decent and energetic people and use my energy and charm running it. Or maybe I'll retire somewhere in the mountains or a beach and spend my time writing short stories, never to be published in my life time, but once I pass away someone will find them, stapple'em together, publish it and become a classic of the English literature. Then, 300 years into the future children whose parents have emigrated to Mars will have to read it to try to understand that crazy history of a once upon blue planet and how regular people use to live, love and die.
At that time I'll still be burning in hell of course; I've heard that eternity over there is quite a long time. . .
Jean-Francois was drunk at 8:59 PM
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