Careful what you wish for

Trite but true. The Washington Post's Sunday magazine had a fascinating article about Jack Whittaker, the West Virginia man who won the Powerball on Christmas 2002. He opted for a one-time payment of $113 million and vowed that he would tithe and use the money to better his community. Instead, his granddaughter ended up a drug addict who OD'd, one of her friends also OD'd, he got addicted to strip joints and gambling, his wife kicked him out, the woman who sold him the ticket (and was rewarded by him with a trailer and a big check) ended up having family members stop speaking to her since they thought she was rich and could buy them things, and his neighbors are so disgusted with him that none of them want to attend the church that he's building with his winnings. This lottery pay-out wrecked not only the Powerball winner but pretty much everyone around him. Um, cheerful stuff but utterly gripping. The story is available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36338-2005Jan25.html.