Fast Forward...Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Let's be honest, being part of the working class day in and day out, week after week, month after month, and year after year can be a real drag, especially when you're cooped up in a cube and/or office. Without an end in sight (other than death or retirement 30+ years away), you can sometimes get depressed. So, here's a little activity we named "Scratch Ticket Mania" that will restore your hope and at least give you something fun to look forward to each month or week, or however frequently you choose.

Several co-workers and I came up with this and participated for a short time because we were (and still are) all set with being part of the working class. We get paid monthly (yes, we are rich for one weekend and then destitute for the next three--or FOUR!), and decided that on the Friday we got paid, we'd throw $20 a piece in and one of us would go and buy scratch tickets. The person purchasing the tickets could do whatever they wanted: ten $10 dollar tickets, five $20 tickets, twenty $5 tickets, etc etc....you get the point. The Monday morning following pay day, we'd scratch away and although we'd be aggravated that we woke up early to come to work, that aggravation would be quickly forgotten when we won our millions and never had to work again. I mean, there were 5 of us involved, each putting in $20, how could we at LEAST not 'win' our $100 back?  We knew we might not win big right away, but we were positive that we'd retain our original contributions and then reinvest until we became zillionaires! Guess what? Three months later, we were all still working, each of us $60 lighter in the wallet.  We decided to take a short hiatus from this plan. but now with the nice weather coming up and our motivation at work going down, we're reconsidering. I have a feeling that we'll be reinstating STM come our June payday. 

Although losing was depressing, the hope and excitement during the build up to the monthly scratching was fun. We'd imagine all the fun trips we'd take, the huge palaces we'd buy, and the creative and awesome ways in which we'd give our notices (which would obviously NOT have to be two weeks, unless of course we liked our bosses--and in that case, f it, we'd just give them a payout and take them with us!) Also, this activity was just good for morale. The group of us got closer and although nobody WANTS to go to work, it made it a little easier.  I'm looking forward to starting STM up again---this time with winning results!

-KC Jones