Tonight I did something I never did before. I played the lotto. It was the New York State Mega-Millions jackpot which I kept hearing about all day and decided I would play.A few things helped me reach that decision. A. I'm broke. B. With a lot of things changing in my life recently I figured, "What the hell - I'm feelin' lucky!" and C. I put on eyewitness news today at work and heard Sade Baderinwa talking to Lee Goldberg about it and they both said that they were taking their chances on it as well and that completely sealed the deal for me. If Sade and Lee were going for it, I would too. We would be in this together. (Diana Williams must've taken the night off)
I told my producer Amita at work that I was thinking of playing and had never done it before and didnt know where to get a ticket. So a little while after she left for the day she called me to tell me about a bodega she passed on 44th street and 3rd avenue with a big mega-millions sign outside and I should go there to get my ticket. I packed up and left the office and headed to the bodega ready for my chance at the millions!
When I got there I walked right up to the middle-eastern guy at the counter and said, "HI! I've never done this before but I'd like to play the mega-millions lotto jackpot and don't know what to do!" He didn't seem too impressed by my naive eagerness but handed me a orange lotto slip (my favorite color! a good sign!!), pointed to the back of it for me to read the directions, and made a motion and a kind of grunty noise for me to get out of his face and step aside. I walked over to a little area in the bodega where I saw people were hard at work scratching tickets and penciling numbers and put my ticket on the counter to read the directions. A nice black woman who saw that I was new here said, "Hey baby all you gotta do is check the quick pick boxes and the machines will pick the numbers for you. Or you can choose your own five numbers on top, and one number at the bottom as the jackpot number." I thanked her so much for helping me out and decided that I would let the machine pick the numbers for 3 of my games and I'd randomly pick some numbers for the 2 other ones. (I wanted to feel like I was at least in a little bit of control) There were 5 total on each card at a dollar a pop. I filled them out, paid my five dollars, got a print out of my soon to be winning numbers and put them in my bag and went on my way.
As I left the bodega and went skipping to the train on my way to the gym I started thinking to myself of all the things I was gonna do with the money. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow and I'm still paying off my visit to them from the last time I went. With my winnings from the mega-millions I'll surprise all those girls in the dental office with a big hunka cash and order the braces and veneers I wanted to get but couldn't afford. I'll fly to the next leg of Lady Gaga's tour in the UK and Ireland next month and have front row seats and backstage passes for all her shows. We'll meet backstage and take lotsa pics and I'll be like "I'm putting these on facebook Gaga!!!" and she'll be like "Do it you little monster!!!" and I'll be like "I'll tag you girl!!" and she'll be like, "I need photo approval first bitch!" and I'll be like, "Oh ok, anything for you Gaga!!" and when I meet her I'll finally be rocking that perm I wanted to put in my hair but didn't get because I wanted to save money!
I'll definitely buy vacations and presents for my family. I might even share with some of the people I work with who supported me in my first time playing the lotto. We'll go out to lunch and I'll hire the Jersey Shore cast to come with us because everyone in my office is obsessed with that show and would adore a lunch with JWoww and Pauly D and Snooks. (I dunno if I'd want Sammy and Ronnie there though because it would be too much drama!) They're all in contract disputes with MTV now anyway so they will need the cash!
I'll sail around the world! I've never even been on a cruise! I'll go back to Colombia where I was born and stay in really nice hotels and sightsee all of South America. Then I'll go to Iceland and New Zealand and Egypt and everywhere else I have wanted to see. I'll buy an apartment in Manhattan and let my friends stay there while I am away on my travels. I'll get a dog and name it Schnickers! I'll buy a house on Fire Island and let everyone stay there in the summers for free! I'll put money aside for my new nephew's college fund. I'll be a hero. Everyone will love me.
When I got on the 7 train to head back to Queens I could feel the winning ticket burning a hole in my bag. I looked around to see if anyone was eyeing me and noticed some lady looking right at me and my bag. "What do you think you're lookin at lady!?! Get your own mega-millions ticket!" I thought to myself.
It made me think of Charlie in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the Gene Wilder one kids) when he wins the last golden ticket and the guy pulls him from the mob scene crowd that begins gathering around him in the candy shop after he wins. The candy shop owner manages to scurry little Charlie on his way and screams "Run home Charlie!! Run straight home and don't turn back!!" I had to get home with this ticket! I had to make it back to my place safe and sound before a mob scene descended on me and the winning ticket in my bag.
I bet Charlie was as hopeful then as I am now. I guess this why those regulars today in the bodega play the lotto all the time. It gives them their dreams to think about on the way to the train. It puts hope in their heads as they imagine all they'll be able to do for themselves and the people they love once they become a "winner". It's worth it to them for a brief instant on a train ride back to their home in Queens that just possibly they could be holding onto something worth 121 million dollars and not have to worry anymore.
Whether or not I win tonight remains to be seen but the feeling I've been given to realize my dreams this evening has been fantastic.
I better check what channel to watch tonight! (What am I doing?! I really should be packing! Oy!) If I win, I'm totally paying people to pack for me.
Hey, ya never know.....
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