My idea of a heaven on earth treat now? Grilled asparagus and brussels sprouts. Christ I’m old!
Related, sort of, why is it that when thin people get sick, they’re never hungry. Donna the Perpetually Peckish on the other hand is never NOT interested in food. Is this fair – I ask you!
While ellipticalling my ass off (trying to at any rate) an episode of Friends came on the view screen. It was the one where they all bought lottery tickets together when the jackpot was up to 10 mil. I tuned out on what those very irritating chums would do and began imagining what I would do.
After carving up the pot so’s loved ones got a share, I’d likely start buying up land and, yup, planting trees.
There are respectable groups which already do this, like The Nature Conservancy which has a section, named Plant A Billion devoted to planting trees. There’s also:
The International Tree FoundationAnd, sorta, kinda locally, in Shelburne, Vermont there’s One Tree Planted.
Tree Aid
Trees for the Future
Global Trees Campaign
Trees for Change
One Tree Planted is a non-profit environmental charity on a mission of global reforestation. We plant trees in North America, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.So, there are good folk already in the reforestation biz! If I won the lottery, this is where a good portion of my win would go. For now, I believe I can spare a fin to One Tree Planted – one dollar plants one tree. I'll plant five...for now.
Of course, getting back to LotteryVille, as we barked in my carnie days, “you can’t (or “ caint “) win if you don’t play!” Yeah, no. I do NOT buy lottery tickets. Why not? For the same reason gambling holds majorly negative appeal. Throwing away hard won, UNdisposable income on a crap shoot is NOT an option.
I do realize that buying lottery tickets is more about hopes, dreams and that you can’t win if you don’t play thing. With odds to win at 1 in 292 million (as in 2016’s NY 1.5 billion Powerball), I’d rather spend my two bones on one of Ginger Betty’s big chocolate drizzled gingerbread cookies. That'd be guaranteed joy for my bucks.
Invest wisely…and shit.
I can't imagine why anybody wouldn't want to feed creamy sticky gooey white stuff to kids, but there we are.
ReplyDeleteWith wealth beyond a certain level, philanthropy is really the only thing worth spending it on. There's only so much stuff you can buy for yourself before a diminishing-returns effect sets in with the satisfaction it gives you (is Betsy DeVos really substantially happier with nine yachts that with only eight?). But any major cause someone feels strongly about can probably absorb an almost unlimited amount of money and it will actually do some good, if it's spent wisely.
Overweight kids with cavity riddled teeth, spinning like perpetual motion tops from the sugar rush – yeah, OF COURSE!
DeleteBetsy DV – can she ever be happy or, rather, is she ONLY happy when she's screwing over the have nots?
I've never bought a lottery ticket, but I think I'd give much of mine to environmental causes, too.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm sort of proud that I've never bought a lottery ticket.
Like the rest of gambling – it's all just a way to make the suckers happy to be fleeced by giving them a moment's hope and imagination.
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