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A husband and wife from Kentucky are the winners of the largest jackpot ever awarded in the state, according to an Associated Press (See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100107/ap_on_re_us/us_powerball_winner)> article. Ironically though, Rob Anderson claims that the winning ticket was one that he never even meant to purchase. While visiting a local gas station on December 24, he asked the clerk for three $1 tickets that he intended to use as stocking stuffers for three different people. Instead the clerk mistakenly printed one $3 ticket with randomly chosen numbers.

Definitely a Good Choice

The clerk gave Anderson the option of purchasing the unintended ticket or just buying the others that he meant to get. With a bit of spare change in his pocket he decided to take the extra ticket along with the other three. This turned out to be an amazingly fortunate decision, especially for someone who claims to normally be quite thrifty and only spend what he needs to.

A Feeling of Disbelief

With all of the chaos that the holidays bring, the couple set the ticket aside and did not think about it again until Boxing Day. When they did get around to looking the numbers one of the sets matched exactly, including the Powerball. After playing the lotto together for 12 years with no success, they were unable to wrap their heads around the idea that they had won, and especially the idea that they had won such a large amount. The total winnings amount to just over $128 million.

No Major Decisions Yet

For the time being the couple has not made any definite plans about their windfall. They are still mulling over the option to take a reduced amount as a lump sum payment. A trip to Hawaii, a new car and a return to school are some ideas that have come to mind, but so far they have not even decided if they will continue to work. Both are factory workers at a plant that makes car parts. Anderson says that they will maintain their frugal tendencies despite their new fortune.

Can they Maintain It?

While the Anderson’s and many before them claim that they will spend wisely and retain their economical ways, the truth is that most will not. There is no debating that $128 million is a very large sum of money and one that most of us will never see, but it can still be squandered away in an amazingly short amount of time. An article on the Good Morning America site explains that 70 percent of the suddenly rich fritter away their money within a few years.

How is that Possible?

It is a combination of being too generous and having no preparation for managing such a fortune that is the downfall of many unexpected millionaires. Once word gets around that someone has come into a large amount of money everyone wants a handout; some people have trouble turning anyone down. Others have the notion that they have so much that it will never end. They have no idea how to properly manage it, so they end up wiping it all out with reckless spending. Let’s hope the Anderson’s are able to beat the odds.

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A word to the wise, people: If you’re ever out shopping and someone marches into the store and says she’ll pay for $500 worth of merchandise for everyone, remember that sometimes people lie. Furthermore, if this happens to you, please exercise further common sense by realizing that if a stranger walks in and offers to buy clothing for you and then doesn’t follow through, you are not allowed to steal it.

A Burlington Coat Factory riot broke out on Tuesday when a woman emerged from a limousine at the store and told cashiers she had won the lottery and would spend up to $500 on everybody in the store. Guaranteed loans may be guaranteed, but promises from strangers have no such legal backing. I’m not sure who I think is crazier in this story: the woman who lied about winning the lottery and being able to buy stuff for everyone, or the people who caused a riot and started looting the store after they realized the stranger wouldn’t be funding their purchases.

Details on Burlington Coat Factory riot

It all started at a Burlington Coat Factory location in Columbus, OH. Though the fact that I first read about this in the Weekly World News made me wonder which was the real hoax, the story is confirmed in the Chicago Tribune and on MSNBC. As they tell it, a woman named Linda Brown rolled up to the store in a rented limousine Tuesday and “walked to a cash register and loudly announced she had won the lottery and would pay for each person’s merchandise up to $500,” police said.

She told people she had won $1.5 million. Customers started calling relatives and friends, and soon the store had to call in police officers to handle the crowd. Brown went to the bank to get the money to pay for everything, then came back empty handed. She hadn’t won anything and had no money.

And the crowd goes wild

Once customers found out they weren’t getting free stuff, the Burlington Coat Factory riot broke out as “Angry customers threw merchandise around and looted, leaving the store looking as though a hurricane had passed through it, police said,” according to MSNBC. Some customers took off with their merchandise without paying for it, and police are reviewing surveillance footage to find those people.

Announcing to a store that you will buy things for everyone and then not doing it isn’t a crime. However, receiving $900 worth of limousine services and not paying for it is. When the limo driver realized he wasn’t going to get paid, he turned Brown into the police.

Quite the rap sheet

Turns out, the woman who caused the Burlington Coat Factory riot has three outstanding warrants for aggravated menacing, misuse of 911 systems and causing false alarms. Interesting hobby.