Monday, March 10, 2014

Consequences of Winning the Lottery

Northern California has sold the $425 million winning powerball ticket to one winner.  While fantasizing about winning is fun, such a large sum of money comes with consequences to personal privacy.


If you’re a dreamer like me, winning the lottery has always been a fantastic, but tangible dream. I’ve spent hours finding ridiculously extravagant items: castles in France, suits of armor, luxurious libraries, golden toilet paper, and oceanfront property. The list goes on and on.  I even have a Pinterest account titled “lottery”.  I realize I am never going to win. But the pure fun my brain has from imaginating the ways my life would change is worth the $2 dollar price tag of a ticket.  


It was announced that one winning Powerball ticket worth $425 million was sold in Northern California.  The gas station, Dixon Landing Chevron, will receive a $1 million dollar prize for selling the winning ticket.  Nobody has come forward to claim it; it usually takes a few days for someone to get it together.  Only six states in the US allow the winner to remain anonymous: South Carolina, Delaware, Maryland, North Dakota, Kansas, and Ohio. There are ways around this; some states allow an individual to remain anonymous if they claim the money through a trust or a company.


This is the sixth largest jackpot in the US.  The largest was a $656 million Mega Millions split by three separate winners in March 2012.  The odds of winning the jackpot is staggering - about 1 in 175 million.  But somebody has to win, right? Despite the fact that these odds are not in my favor, I buy tickets anyway, and so do thousands of other hopeful souls.  We know we are not going to win. But we can still hope and dream.


Sadly, if I ever did actually win the lottery, there are many serious things to consider.  A huge sum of money comes with huge responsibility and obviously, power.   Online reputation management companies such as Centel Media™ can help, with services such as Negative Article Suppression that are essential to maintaining a positive place on the internet.  I’d like to enjoy my Pinterest account without being hassled by negative publicity, thank you very much!  If you happen to have unflattering photos of yourself on a social media site, or any site, consider Centel Media™ Negative Image Suppression service.  


Such things as online reputation management may be overlooked in such tumultuous times.  There are other pending decisions to be made. Who do I tell? What lawyer do I use?  Who do I share this with? Should I move? And so on. Don’t forget that it is important to have control of what information the media decides to grab ahold of and publicize. While these aren’t as fun as my Pinterest dreams, they are pretty important. There are more things in life that equal happiness than just money.  Online reputation has a dramatic effect on quality of life, and no amount of money can erase the pain of having the world see in you in a negative light.


Renee Miller,
Creative Writer,
Jonathan Wong,
Editor-in-Chief,