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And you spent your lottery win on that?
February 22, 2008

I usually put on a headset and listen to my favorite podcast or music while running. But yesterday, somehow I misplaced my headset somewhere, probably in my pile of unmatched and holely socks. In a bit of hurry, I decide to lace up and run without it.

Big mistake!

Without music or podcast to distract me, I actually paid attention to my running route. Well, a mile into it, I passed by a neighborhood convenient store, with the huge sign outside – Lottery $176 million. When you put a foot in front the other for about 35,000 times, occasionally your mind just starts to drift into a bizarre place, totally out of control.

What would I do with $176 million?! My first easy “decision” was never to work for financial reasons again. All good, right? Would I build a big house, green architecture, of course? After a bit of internal debate, I decided against it. There really wasn’t any need.

Kids’ education, retirement, my parents, yeah, all mundane and boring stuff.

At mile 3, I settled into a grand vision: I would donate most of my lottery winning. Where to? You ask. Well, I knew there were like thousands of organizations out there that badly needed funding. But I had to stay focused – so it was decided that most of my donation would go to environmental organizations. Yeah, I was clearly getting carried away. But running on concrete roads can get quite borings now and then. So indulge my fantasy lottery game. Here it goes:

$20 million to Ocean Conservancy - our ocean is in so much trouble right now. A new research has shown that more than 40% of our ocean has been seriously damaged by human activities

(image: courtesy of NPR. Notice, there is hardly any low impact areas left.)

$10 million to Monterey Bay Aquarium – They are doing such a fantastic job educating the kids (and adults) about our ocean. And we visit quite often.

$10 million to Green Peace – I know their approaches have generated quiet a bit of controversy over the years. But while we were sitting here reading and complaining about Japanese illegal whaling activities in the Antarctic whale sanctuary, Green Peace was out there on the choppy waters and trying to stop the fishing vessels.

$10 million to Sierra Club – I’ve always been a big fan.

$10 million to The Nature Conservancy – Love their pragmatic approach. Get things done.

$10 million to National Wildlife Federation – I was brought up with tremendous amount of fascination with wildlife and the notion of co-existing with them. It is a huge failing on our part that our children are handed extinct wildlife species year after year.

And of course the local environmental organizations, such as Acterra and Save the Bay.

Oh, how can I forget Humane Society? Its members courageously put the hidden camera in the Chino Slaughter house and revealed the horrifying reality of industrialized beef.

At this point, I was at mile 5 or whatever. How much money have I given away? When I was huffing and puffing, I could not tally the numbers right, not even the straight-forward adding. Sigh. But I definitely entered into the endorphin-induced state of exhilaration. My fantasy took a life of its own. Yay, my favorite organizations were all getting funding from my big lottery winning. The Ocean Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, Rainforest Action Network, etc., etc.

By the time I got back to my front door, I had managed to give away all my lottery winning (maybe more since I lost track of the numbers). You probably all think I am nuts. Strange things happen to sound minds (at least most of the time) when you pound the concrete for the 35,235th time.

I gotta find my headset for my next run. Or, wish me luck if I ever decide to buy a lotto ticket

CindyW

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