once again, the kinders have the right message.
—
‘the day, water, sun, moon, night –
i do not have to purchase these things with money.”
-plautus
when the mega millions jackpot
hit 1 billion dollars tonight
i decided to take my chances
shell out 2 dollars
buy a lucky ticket
and imagine for at least 12 hours
what i would do with my billion
not a bad price for half a day of creative fun.

the winning ticket?
what would you do with a billion dollars if you won?
—
‘a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.’
-everett dirksen
when one local dollar tree store closed
my favorite enthusiastic manager
moved to the new location
and judging by my recent visit
he has not lost one bit
of his dollar store fervor and expertise.
this was a conversation between bob (the manager) and evelyn (my cashier) as i was checking out:
E: “bob, you’re really good at remembering all of the balloon numbers to ring up and knowing each one of them without looking.”
B: “well, i’ve been doing it a long time. once in a while a number will change or a new shape will come in, like a unicorn, but it’s part of my job to keep up with it.”
E: “when i worked at the grocery store, i knew all the prices for the cucumbers, the peppers and tomatoes. the easy ones”
B: “some are trickier, like avocados, and for some of those things you only see sometimes it’s harder to remember the all the plu’s.”
E: “it’s really a skill, bob. to be able to do that.”
customer john interrupts:
J: “hey bob – so this is where you’ve got up to – how are you liking the change?”
B: “hey, john. good to see you. it’s great. every day is great. i’m so lucky to be here.”
and how lucky is dollar tree to have bob as a manager?
a man who truly loves his job
takes pride in all of it
is always smiling and helpful
knows exactly where every item in the store is located
and who happily learns the number for the new unicorn balloon.
carpool mates
ride with smiles
chat about the day
throw down our heavy things
relax at last
stop to buy a ticket
and
share
what we’ll do
when/if
we win
the 800 million
and
the first thing
that each of us names
is a donation
to someone else
who needs some of it
more than we do
and
it’s part of
the reason why
we
all ride together
with smiles.
any suggestions for my windfall?
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