8 of 11 Women in Small Office Win $276mil Powerball in WV... Link

[Blackhatjack]

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Tax_office_workers_win_276M_in_lott_03182008.html

The linked article does not make it clear whether the 3 women left out had played together with the other 8 winners on prior occasions, but each of the 8 will clear $11.5mil AFTER TAXES.

The 8 winners contributed $5 each to a pool that resulted in the winning ticket.

IF you were one of the 8 women who won, all of which intend to keep working together with the other 3 non-winners, would you share any portion of your winnings with the 3 non-winners who did not contribute on this particular occasion?

Interesting question....

[proud patriot]

1. Yes

:hi:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I sure would!

I mean, you clear 11.5mil AFTER TAXES!

How could you not share?

How much do you really need?

I would share, believe me!

It would be such damn good karma...

[Forkboy]

3. Definitely.

No question about it, to me.

[Ikonoklast]

4. Depends....were they included before, or never participated?

We had a pool for the lottery with the understanding that if you didn't contribute that week, you had to wait until the next week to play.

None of this, "I was going to pay you, but...." stuff.

Money up front, or go buy your own ticket.


I worked with a woman that won the Ohio lottery. She was sweetheart, and her husband had taken an early retirement due to heart problems. I was glad for her when she won, but the assholiness sure came out of some people.

She quit soon thereafter, and told those that were being assholes, to their face, to fuck off.

[Dinger]

18. Hi, I'm A Friend Of Johnny's Too!

:)

[Greyhound]

5. Depends on who they are and how they treated me. Assuming they were good people,

of course they'd get a nice slice.

But then again, I'm a radical pinko, communist, freak.

[RamboLiberal]

6. 3 of the co-workers didn't pitch in

Still if I was that lucky I'd probably gift them with some money being that there are only 3. At my office I run the lottery pool when the Powerball gets big - now I'd have too many co-workers to be too generous if they didn't pitch in. We always joke if they don't play at least they will be instant VP's in the office.

[Blackhatjack]

7. $375k from ea of the 8 winners turns 3 non-winners into Millionaires...

... and the 8 winners still clear over $11.1 mil After taxes.

I would suggest that if these 3 had been playing all along and just happened not to play this one time when they were winners.

[benh57]

8. I wouldn't pitch in and wouldn't expect a sliceq

As the famous quote says, the lottery is a tax on the stupid.

And they are seriously regressive.

Read: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/gamble/odds/

Progressives (and really, anyone who considers themselves smart) should not throw away money on them.

[better tomorrow]

9. Yes, but....

if they chose NOT to play, I would only pay them 3/11ths of 3/11ths of it. If they were too poor to play, I would pay them 3/8ths of it. If they were not asked to play, I would pay them 3/11ths of it.....

[girl gone mad]

10. Absolutely I would share.

I went through a similar situation, albeit on a MUCH smaller scale, when a family member was left out of a relatives will.

[Blackhatjack]

11. You don't reallly know people until you share an estate with t hem

[XOKCowboy]

24. Ain't that the truth!

People's real personality comes out when money is involved.

[mondo joe]

12. It would depend. I'd like to think I'd share, or at least give them seomething. If they were ass

hats who made my life miserable pre-winning, they wouldn't see a dime.

[Echo In Light]

13. Share some, and then round my family up and flee this country

[ThomWV]

14. They didn't play, why would they have won?

I used to run one of those office pools, I kept a list of the people who paid in every week we played, if you were on the list you'd share in any winnings, if you were't you didn't. End of story. Everyone knew how it worked, if you paid you played, if not, well then, not.

By the way, my son knows two of the ladies who won. They worked at the court house for the County, it is a nasty old place and I'd bet that not one of them is still working there 2 weeks from now no matter what they said.

[Lorien]

15. I probably would, even if we weren't the best of friends

Not a million dollars mind you-there are a lot of needy charities out there that could use that. But I would certainly give them something. Maybe find out if they had any debt and pay all of it off-something of that order that would make their lives easier.

[Lance_Boyle]

16. hells no

if the 8 winners had not picked the lucky number, would the 3 non-players give *them* money?

[Blackhatjack]

17. The comments here are not surprising, but still interesting...

We don't know all the facts, so really this is not a fair question.

But in the end, it comes down to how we view our possessions and the needs of others.

[Blackhatjack]

19. What if someone said 'I'll give you $11.5mil tax free IF you give a coworker $375k of it?'

Would that change your mind about sharing with the coworker?

[librechik]

20. that's gotta take a toll on office politics.

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. The winners will quit or find new jobs. n/t

[KansDem]

22. You mean I didn't win?

I was in that lottery! I guess now I don't have to check my tickets :(

Oh, well...once again the lottery gods did not smile down on KansDem...:cry:

[XOKCowboy]

23. I can't say for sure...

I'm trying to visualize the same situation at my former place of employment. I'd have to think that the other 3 opted out or weren't included for a reason. There were people we didn't include in our office pools like our asshole manager or a couple of people that never bet due to religious convictions.

If I'd been in the same situation, I still wouldn't give a penny to the asshole manager but I'd offer the "fundies" something. Now I'm wondering if they would accept the money. After all it's "ill-gotten gains". Something tells me that with today's economy (and the declining state of my former employer), money would trump religion. :)

[Blackhatjack]

25. The fact you would offer them something says more about you than them...

... it is interesting how the first thing some people do when they receive a windfall of cash is take it as an opportunity to settle old scores.