What would you do first if you won the mega jackpot in the lottery? 300 Danish people were recently told they had won between 1 billion and 280 billion crowns ($49.7 billion), but it turns out they had won only between $35 to $70. It took an hour and a half to find and correct the mistake. How would you like to be the lottery director who gets to inform these people of the mistake?
Three hundred Danes believed a dream lifestyle of champagne and caviar awaited them this week after they were announced billionaire lottery winners — until they discovered it was a mistake. …
“Three hundred of our lottery players who won the lottery, the Keno, received a message saying they had won a sum in the billions. And they never won that amount … We are of course very sorry. We have now written to them to inform them of the sum that they really won,” Roersig said. …
Roersig said some of the gamers “were disappointed, others were furious and I can fully understand that, but most of them took it well.”
I have a feeling that after all the excitement and jubilation, the words “very sorry” just aren’t much consolation. I wouldn’t be surprised if there will be some lawsuits in this scenario. I figure some of the “winners” already quit their job and starting buying expensive stuff. The lottery director said he’s considering increasing their winnings to help compensate for their disappointment. I’m curious how much that would be.
I wonder if any of the “winners” sent an e-mail to their boss saying something along the lines of “take this job and shove it”. If you know the song by that title, are you singing it yet? It’s one of those that can get stuck in your head. If you aren’t familiar with it, it was a #1 hit in 1978, written by David Allan Coe and covered by Johnny Paycheck.
Anyway, I also wonder how many of those people later sent an e-mail to their boss saying “I’ve always appreciated your ability to take a joke” or “My computer got a virus and sent these crazy e-mails to everyone”. 🙂
If you aren’t familiar with that song or haven’t heard it in a while, it’s (of course) all over the YouTube. But here’s one version I remember seeing from the Dukes of Hazzard, where Johnny Paycheck got caught in one of Boss Hogg’s infamous celebrity speed traps and thus had to sing at The Boar’s Nest. Classic stuff here…
Boss’ reactions to the main hook are awesome. That’s one of the best TV shows of all time.
I wonder how many people have written about the lottery and the Dukes of Hazzard at the same time… 🙂
Buffet o' Blog 
Pingback: launching a toilet into space « Buffet o' Blog
Marie
“I figure some of the “winners” already quit their job and starting buying expensive stuff.”
This is going to sound harsh, but if they have been buying lavish items, they only have themselves to blame. Fair enough, being told that they’ve won that sum of money is going to turn your head, you’d have Vulcan levels of discipline if it didn’t, but there’s never any excuse for spending money that isn’t there. Quitting your job…. well, I suppose I’d be tempted too if I happened to be deeply unhappy, but as we’ve seen, it’s always wise to wait until the money’s in the bank.
I do feel for these people though. For an hour, they believed they would never have any financial worries for the rest of their lives and then they find out that it was never real. That has to be such a punch in the gut. I wonder just how much will be added to their real Lottery winnings by way of compensation too. I doubt it’ll be any significant amount, so it’ll probably feel like another huge punch in the gut, even though it’s money they wouldn’t have had.
They say that a Lottery win can ruin your life. I only hope that not winning the Lottery hasn’t ruined these people’s lives.