Everyone seems to have an opinion about who should play the lottery. Should poor people play, and squander money that they cannot afford to lose? Should wealthy people play, and perhaps win money that they don’t need? It’s a hot topic.
Last year, Christina Hawrylowicz played the lottery. She is a single mother who was getting disability support when she bought her winning ticket in the Canadian lottery. She won $6.5 million.
There were some strong words from her fellow Canadians who wrote in to the Toronto Star newspaper. Here are some of the comments:
I hope that in the unlikely event of a major lottery win, I would conduct myself like Christina. Money can make or break people but those who handle it best are the ones whose richest experience is to make others happy.
I think it’s wonderful that someone like this woman, who has known hard times, won the lottery. Congratulations and enjoy every moment!
Shouldn’t one of the first things she spent money on be repayment of the disability income instead of a $25,000 parrot? With purchases like that, I would think she and/or her children will be back on the government’s doorstep sometime in the future.
We don’t know enough to make judgment calls on her, such as how many tickets she bought or whether it was cutting into her family support. For all we know, she could have walked to the doctor’s or something once a week instead of taking the bus to save the money for the lottery ticket. Give her the benefit of the doubt, and congrats on the win.
Sounds to me like some sour grapes talking. What do you think?