Why can't the press tell a positive story?
I hope it was just a poor choice of quote, taken from many. But why report it at all?
From Cottonwood, California comes a happy little tale of a Mega Millions lottery ticket winner and the store it was sold in.
As related in the New York Post, the only source of news I trust aside from Messy Times,
The unidentified lucky ticketholder can choose between the $1.22 billion jackpot paid out in installments over 29 years or take the one-time lump sum estimated at $549.7 million.
One shopper gave the owners advice, telling them to leave Cottonwood — a 6,000-person town, 145 miles north of Sacramento — and enjoy their new financial gift.
“Way to do it, man,” Christina, a Shasta County resident said, according to KRCR. “I hope you live the rest of your life in peace and happiness, just ride off into the sunset, forget this Podunk town.”
Why report this negativity? I am sorry this Christina hates her life so much that her first thought is that anyone with a windfall should immediately leave the place in which she lives. What a crappy way to go through life. But why does the New York Post choose to highlight her nasty negativity in reporting this otherwise feel-good tale of a small business that recovered from a fire and which provides a desirable service to its community?
Did someone else nearby say, “Hey! That is a wild stroke of good fortune. I wish the lucky winner a lifetime of peace and happiness. It if were me, I’d be pumped to retire right here in Cottonwood. I was born here, my kids grew up here and I’ve really never wanted to live anywhere else. Don’t get me wrong - we’ll do some traveling and I’m going to buy that chunk of land that used to be an apple orchard, so my life is going to change, but what am i going to do? Suddenly move to Beverly Hills to live around people I don’t know? Buy overpriced handbags on Rodeo Drive like in Pretty Woman?”
It would be wonderful to hear that someone who just won $550,000,000 out of nowhere sits down with some experienced financial investors to come up with a plan which involves the town which they lived in for so many years. Someone running a venture capital fund with a half billion dollars could fund 1,000 startups for $500,000 each. There are hundreds of ways to invest that capital that could have generational impact. I hope they explore some of those avenues.
I’m not some whiny Lefty telling someone else to give their money away. I’m suggesting this is when some salutary lessons around the “grow the pie” mindset behind true capitalism can kick in. I have no idea who the winner is, but I hope that person locates sound, trustworthy advice, and makes a plan for what to do with more capital than 99.999% of the planet will ever get to deploy.
Beyond “just” luck, a jackpot of this magnitude can transform lives and whole communities for the better. I hope it does.
The owners of the California gas station who sold the fifth largest Mega Millions ticket in history on Friday were elated to learn their store had played a small part in the $1.22 billion jackpot win as they rebuilt the business after a devastating fire three years ago.
Jaspal Singh’s family has owned the Circle K (Sunshine Food and Gas) in Cottonwood, Calif. for two decades and they received word of the store’s luck just over an hour after the drawing.
Singh’s son, Ishar Gill – the store’s Director of Operations – was told by lottery officials at 9:30 local time that the store sold the winning ticket, something he couldn’t believe happened, according to KRCR.
“Everybody knows about it. Everybody’s excited,” he added.
The winning numbers were 3, 7, 37, 49, 55, and the gold Mega ball of 6.
Gill got confirmation from officials at 11:30 p.m. and was told they would be checking out the store Saturday to “cross our T’s and dot our I’s,” Gill told the Record Searchlight.
Singh and his family will receive an incentive from the California Lottery for selling the billion-dollar ticket. Retailers receive one-half of one percent of the jackpot amount for selling the winning ticket, up to a million dollars, according to the state lottery.
The family’s reward comes after the gas station suffered a devastating loss after a fire broke out in Aug. 2021, destroying the entire structure and leading to the business being closed for nearly two years. KRC-TV
In August 2021, the gas station was destroyed when flames engulfed the entire building and forced the family to start a “long and difficult” two-year “road to recovery.”
The family reopened the station in March 2023.
The Circle K owners say they aren’t going anywhere and will be giving some of the money back to their Cottonwood community.
“To our amazing community—thank you for supporting us and making us part of your daily lives. Whether it’s for gas, snacks, or just a friendly hello, you all mean the world to us,” the store wrote on Facebook Saturday morning.
“Here’s to dreams coming true, and to the wonderful people who make Cottonwood so special.”
I wish the Singhs all the best as their lottery sale windfall adds to the growth of their business. And I hope the jackpot winner does wonderful things with his or her newfound wealth and ends up happier as a result of this blast of monetary lightning.
Happy New Year! May it be filled with blessings of health, happiness and success for you and yours!