When the possibility of winning the lottery is discussed, you can count on someone sharing the fact that many winners end up broke, clinically depressed, or worse.
These Redditors shed some light on the how of that downturn.
u/REDxSAM asked, "Redditors who suddenly came into alot of money, what was your horror story of people begging for money?"
Only a couple of these deal with money won. Mostly, we're talking money inherited.
Regardless, it takes a mountain of emotional labor to be asked a friend--or several friends-for money, turn that friend down, and then still aim to maintain the friendship through it all.
Yes, this is inherently a problem of privilege. But it is deeply stressful nonetheless.
No Gimme Backs!
I won $5000 on a scratch off that was given to me on my birthday by my aunt. It was just a $2 scratcher and obviously nobody thought I would win that much. I scratched it in front of everyone and they were all super excited for me except my aunt who demanded the ticket back because she paid for it. I even offered to split half with her.
Long story short, she took me to small claims where the judge pretty much laughed and she didn't get s***. Haven't talked to her since.
They Make Their Own Luck
I once took second in a poker tournament and won $150k. There was an audience of about 200 people when it finished. Common practice was ppl ask winners for a "lucky chip". I was almost mobbed by people begging for lucky chips as I left the casino. Had to be escorted by security.
Giphy
When Money Skips a Generation
My Grandma died a week before Christmas, and she left her house and 1/4 of her small fortune to me (the rest of the money went to my brother and my two cousins). My uncles and aunts have been a pain in my back ever since. Claiming that the money/house are theirs,etc. And I've also been approached by people who I haven't seen or talked in a while.
Some Overnight Modifications to the Will
My money came in the form of accidental death inheritance after my dad died in a motorcycle crash. His girlfriend at the time was furious that he left everything to me. She tried to convince me to give her money and when I refused she took everything, and I mean everything from his house overnight. She rented two U-Hauls and her and her brother raided the place.
She started selling what she could on Facebook, mostly his woodworking tools and fishing gear, and she fled to somewhere in the next state over. We tried to get help from the police but they didn't do much.
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Newly Adopted Rules
I'm adopted (USA) and an only child. I have an aunt that insists that because I'm not "actually" their child that I have no legal rights to my parents estate (which is sizable, go dad!).
Father Scams Best
Got a 7k settlement from a car accident. I accidentally left the check on the corner table in the living room. My dad walks into my bedroom and asks if I can lend my mom any money. I work minimum wage retail and ask him how much does she need. He says how about half of that 7k check.
It has been almost 8 years. I haven't seen any of that money back.
Conditional Love
Old friends would only want to meet on the condition that we go out to eat and that I pay for it.
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Plight of a Tycoon
I received fourteen properties when my last parent died, and the amount of people who crawled out of the woodwork to ask for a "loan" were unreal. It's really unfortunate that many of them were in a state that publicly publishes details of an estate when probate is granted.
The *Actual* Actual Retail Price
I won 10k on Wheel of Fortune and my older brother, who I literally hadn't spoken to in 5 years and who bullied me my whole life to that point, called and asked if I would buy him a motorcycle.
Giphy
For Their Own Good
I basically became a bank. Always lending money to people. Eventually I had to stop because I realized even though my friends were paying me back, I was essentially facilitating their overspending and they were trapped in a cycle of debt.
Right On Cue
I landed a VERY high paying remote job($200k+) for a SF based company, the average salary for a software developer in South Africa is around $30k per year.
I started getting messages from some of my old "friends" saying that it had been a while and they wanted to catch up.
There was one guy I always had a soft spot for.
We hadn't even ordered our food yet when he dropped the bomb on me that he felt that I owed him a lot of money for "always being there for me" and that I would be "selfish" to not give him some money as I had so much. I quietly just got up and left.
Thanks for the Decade, Sucker
So, I knew this girl who was a sex-worker, had known here for years and we had even briefly dated before she got into that line of work.
Fast forward like 10 years, and I had inherited a bunch of money.
She started talking about how she wasn't young anymore, and she wasn't happy anymore doing what she was doing and wanted to change directions.
I don't know what she spent it on, drugs probably, but she didn't go back to school. She abruptly cut off contact with me (after TWELVE YEARS) and that was that.
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"Hey, Just Let Me Know When You're All Done Buying That, Mkay?"
I get my first income tax which was almost 3k and my mom tries to sell me her van for 2k...i tell her NO and she drops it to 1,000 since I can "easily afford it" I still refuse and less than an hour later she sends me a picture of a 1,200.00 dog for sale with "this is what I want for my birthday. He's in Kentucky I'll send you the address"
Mourning Can Wait, Kid
Friend of mine lost both parents in the span of about four months.
I go to [second] funeral but this time there are well over a hundred people there. It seemed like every aunt, uncle, nephew, and niece suddenly showed up.
After the funeral I'm waiting in the reception area before my friend and her brother come out to thank everybody for coming and I overhear multiple people talking about how much they're hoping to get in the inheritance.
A Little County Fair Coercion
When I was young, like 10, I won $100 on a Nevada pull tab ticket at the local country fair.
When I cashed it a lady who was selling knitted teapot cozies was like "oh where are you going to spend all that?" Then she asked me to spend $15 on one of her cozies.
I told her thanks but I'm going to save it for a video game console.
She then called me a fu**ing selfish little a** and said her teapot cozy was much more valuable than a stupid video game. I was so nervous I just bought one.
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Heyyyyyyyyyy Dad
My sister in law heard that her estranged father, to whom she hadn't spoken to in over a decade, had come into some money. She took her kid, abandoned her house and drove across Canada to go and reconnect with Daddy. My brother was overseas, serving in the military.
She basically moved in with daddy and love bombed him until she found out that - no he does not actually have money at all.
That Thing Must've Had Some Power
My former best friend got $5000 in back pay from her shi**y employer which she, on a weekly basis has to remind to pay their employees.
When her other best friend (who she did drugs with on the regular) found out, she instantly made her buy a $1600 vacuum for the house we all shared.
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Ticket scalpers. How do you the audacity to say that's a job?
Actual burglars have more empathy.
Disrespectful
Out Of Office Summer GIF by Merge MansionGiphy"There are debt collectors who call relatives of the deceased to pay off their debts when they are not legally obligated to."
Top_Gun_2021
Shady. Shady.
"Australian Real Estate Agents. Laws don't seem to apply to them. Just as dodgy in sales and rentals alike. Never seen anything like it overseas."
snave_
"I'm in the US, it can vary state by state but my state is pretty strict on realtor laws. Some states require attorney review and there are definitely penalties for being reported for shady sh*t. It does require consumer reporting though."
ilostmytaco
Etransfer
"Where I live, tax info was leaked and now scammers are targeting low income individuals/families (people earning under 30,000 per year) with etransfer scams. I got one the other day that was an etransfer warning that 240$ 'a family member sent me' was about to expire."
SnowyInuk
"That’s disgusting. The scammers know what they’re doing, they know the harm they cause people and yet they don’t care."
surelysandwitch
Should be illegal...
"MLM managers. Not the low level idiots that get suckered into it, they suck too for trying to bring new people into that sh*tshow, but the people who create them know exactly what they are doing and are pretty much the only ones who profit off of it. Should be illegal. Pyramid schemes are illegal. None of them ever get the just desserts except occasionally by vigilantes I assume."
Wereno
I hate debt collectors. Yeah, you calling me one hundred times a week is going to miraculously make money appear.
Animals
Giphy"Paparazzi."
VictorBlimpmuscle
"I met Jack Gleeson (King Joffrey from Game of Thrones) at a bus stop in Dublin. Really nice guy but he said he quit acting due to people being nasty online and constant hounding from paparrazi. He's happier now but it sucks that he was pushed away from a career he was quite good at."
goobi94
Scumbags
"The pastors at mega churches whom ask their followers for money for private jets. Absolute scum to abuse others faith for your own greed."
ichancho
"Brian Tamaki is a greedy freaking pig, he takes advantage of so many people who are already struggling. Every time he’s in the local news (which btw is often) I get more and more pissed off at him and his wife. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Tamaki "
surelysandwitch
it’s a thing???
“'Dating Expert.' Sadly it’s a thing. It’s basically a self appointed title that requires no training or qualifications. What’s worse, is that I have a female friend who uses one. It’s very much a blind leading the blind situation."
Mean_Manufacturer_61
"Most of the self proclaimed “dating coaches” I know are women in their late 30s or early 40s who have never been married or had a longer relationship."
ipozgaj
EVIL
"Poachers. Especially big game poachers who purposefully hunt nearly extinct animals from species they know they are on the brink."
"I know there are poachers that come from rural villages who are trying to just put food on the table, which has my sympathy but poachers who come from money and hunt down animals minding their business in most shelters or restricted areas just to put a head on their wall as a trophy are absolutely heinous."
GetterdoneObiwan
I See It All
miss cleo fraud GIFGiphy"Psychic Mediums. Specifically those who prey on the grieving."
JamesDeadite
"I've always found it interesting how many magicians go after people like this. I think it's because they know what it takes to trick people for the art. The slight of hand and mentalism. And they abhor people who use these tactics for such sh*tty purposes."
34HoldOn
I want so bad to believe in psychics and mediums. What say we on that topic?
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For some odd reason I love the things burning. Anything, food, pots, pans. You name it. Weird.
Blow
fire burning GIFGiphy"Matches/candles on a birthday cake. I remember lighting matches as a kid purely to blow them out and inhale that sweet match-y smell."
semispooked
"guilty good"
"I work at a Chemical plant. We make a highly acidic product that is dark blue, viscus, highly corrosive, and smells exactly like Fruit Loops. It is incredibly disturbing."
Turin082
"Organic chemistry has many 'guilty good' smells. Thiophosgene (sulfur derivative of a chemical weapon used extensively in WW1) apparently smells like meat. Phosgene is used to make polycarbonate, thiophosgene is used to make some sulfur-containing molecules which eventually end up in therapeutic drugs."
HammerTh_1701
I can't huff it...
"Paint, specifically house paint. I love the smell. But anytime I hear that anyone is painting a room or their house, I volunteer. I just love sitting on the floor in a room that's been freshly painted, closing my eyes and just inhaling that slightly chemically, slightly creamy aroma."
Neowza
A Hint of French...
"A fish and chips shop burnt down as couple blocks from work a few years ago. The whole neighborhood smelled amazing for days. Just the slight hint of French fries. Nothing overpowering. It was so awesome. Until I found out someone was trapped in the fire and died."
stevey_frac
Drag
Drag Racing Vegas GIF by Don Schumacher RacingGiphy"Race fuel. Instantly puts me in a good mood as it reminds me of going to the drag races with my dad when I was young."
garfnodie
Fuel and matches get me too. And they sort of go together. Interesting.
Just like the Movie...
Johnny Depp Drinking GIFGiphy"The water from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Mmm, bromine."
Stalkerslovemy
"This is one of my favorite scents of all time, and Disney is very aware that people enjoy it. Evidently it’s a lot harder to recreate than just adding bromine to water."
cash4panties
"black widow".
"There's a chicken wing restaurant near my house that has a challenge sauce called "black widow." The owner claims it to be around 500,000 scovilles. A few years back some buddies and I decided to try them, the sauce was a dark molasses color and smelled almost like a BBQ sauce, no hint of the danger that lurked at all. We each grabbed one wing and it went terribly. I don't know how something so spicy could smell so innocent."
Final-Chapter
Endless Weekend
"Hotel/rented rooms whenever you go on vacation. There's this particular smell that just says 'you are on vacation,' especially on a beach/swimming trips/out-of-the-town vacays."
Yummy_Llama
"Bath and Body Works has a plug-in scent called Endless Weekend that replicates that scent (to my humble nose)."
Exxcentrica
"oh no..."
"Someone you are attracted to's body odors. Anyone else who is slightly unhygienic smells repulsive."
Mini_gunslinger
"I remember back in high school a girl leaned over, sniffed me, told me that I smelled really good, and asked me what cologne I was wearing. I asked if she was joking, and she's like, no, you smell really good. When I told her I had just gotten done with gym class, she gets a small 'oh no...' look on her face and turns away. I think we both had a revelation that day."
user deleted
That Smell
Smell It Season 6 GIF by This Is UsGiphy"The smell inflatable things give off. I have no idea how to describe it, but it’s… nostalgic? to me."
crestfxllen
I do love the smell of plastics and inflatables. Ahh....
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It's hard to imagine how to go on without the lost object–whatever it may be–but over time, it becomes a distant memory and we move on.
That is until we magically find ourselves presented with this opportunity proposed by Redditor mikehotel288, who asked:
"You find yourself in a room with everything you’ve ever lost in your life. What do you look for first?"
There are necessities people cannot do without.
No More Dry Lips Ever Again
"Gonna be a lot of chapstick in that room."
– camefromxbox
There are things that bring us comfort and are irreplaceable.
Safety Blanket
"My baby blanket. It became tattered over the years—to the point where I couldn’t reasonably wash it anymore—so I had to throw it away a little while back."
"I have heavily regretted that decision. I was really attached to it (hence it being in tatters), but I really wish that I kept what was left of it instead of throwing it away. Just knowing that I’d still have it would be a huge comfort to me."
– Uearie
Sentimental Heirloom
"The pendant my dad had made for me with my grandmother’s engagement diamond. It was 2 carats. It disappeared from a Las Vegas hotel room 20 years ago. It was hidden deep in a suitcase where it would not have been easy to find. It was just GONE. Cops didn’t do anything. Didn’t even come to take my statement. Cleaning lady said she thought she saw an elderly man enter my room. The guy I was with was not sympathetic in the least. Entire situation was f**ked. I’m still so upset about it."
– MaritimeDisaster
Lone Shark
"My plastic shark toy I lost when I was 10. Ain't no f'king way it just VANISHED."
– Guilty_As_Charged__
Not everything lost is tangible.
Tick Tock
"The time I wasted."
– shinyfennec
It Holds Value
"My private key with 6 BTC in it."
– Significant_Mirror19
"I didn't lose one, but I'll check my room for yours just in case."
– Smodphan
Finding Purpose
"The reason I walked into the room."
– Lloyd_lyle
Lost Opportunity
"That one girl i spoke to on omegle lol"
– h-amishh
If only we get to reunite with those we've lost.
The Loved Family Member
"My grandpa."
– Splatty_boi_420
Grieving Parent
"My daughter. She’ll be in my brother’s arms. So I’ll find both things I care to look for."
– SeeTheFence
Missing Mom
"My mom. She died of cancer in 2017. She never got to meet my daughter. I miss the hell out of her and wish she was still part of my family’s life."
– X-Arkturis-X
The Animals That Come Into Our Lives
"My pets that have passed: especially my horse, Blue. It's been 4 years, but it feels like just yesterday."
– Baciandrio
While many of these scenarios are unlikely, the thread gave people an opportunity to reflect on the things that made a strong impression on their lives.
Sometimes, the memories of the things we've lost–whether they are random objects or sources of love–is all we have.
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