Taxi driver

He dreamt big. Real big.

I would never have imagined the power lottery could have over our many desires and wishes but I was proven to have quite a limited view of this gambling world. As I hopped onto the taxi, the first thing the driver asked was, "Did you buy the lottery today? You know it's 600 million." Naturally, this was pretty much a rhetorical question for he started to tell the tale of his life. The life after he won the lottery, that is.

If I happen to have all those numbers on that lottery ticket of mine, the first thing I'm going to do is park this damn car in the middle of the road and let it get crushed, damnit. And I'm going to get myself a BMW. Of course, I'm not going to keep staying in Tien Mu. I'm going to move myself to where New York New York is and I'm going to do what I want to do and learn what I want to learn.

Yes, of course. You wouldn't want to waste all that money. It's best not to fling it all around right?

No, no. Well, of course, I'll probably take out about 100 or 200 million and put it into my bank account for retirement. But in the mean time, I'm going to use it on whatever I want. I'll probably buy some land back in my hometown. And I'm not going to put up with all that stupid education. I'm going to learn what I want. There's no use trying to memorize useless things right? You know, you never know when your fate changes. It could be today, in that little ticket. Just 50 NT and your whole life will be turned upside down for the better."

*Polite chuckle* Yes, yes. Of course.

With a repressed sigh of relief we (Mom, brother, and I) fortunately arrived at our destination . Mom quickly wished him good luck winning the lottery tonight, and silently hoped that he wouldn't. Poor guy. If he really managed to obtain that perfect sequence in his hot hands, he would probably be one of those who would waste all their money for a widget of luxurious and ecstatic life and before they knew it, plummet down into the lowest of lows of their lives, having lost all: money, job, and everything else.

Everyone has a different answer for the question "What would you do if you had a million dollars?" but it seems there are two categories that the answers fall into. The first one is similar to the taxi driver: Spend it all with glee and freedom. The second one is to save, save, save; whether it is to give to one's future kid's college money or simply because one's obsessively stingy. None of these categories are right or wrong in their own way (who knows what's right or wrong in life). The second category might seem more reasonable or as many would say "responsible" but one must consider how selfish it is to keep all that money to oneself and one's direct relatives. However, to question the person who carried out this action would be unreasonable. Thus, we must push further back and question the whole game of lottery. Is lottery really something that people desperately need? Will they give up all hope in life knowing they have no way of catching that 1 in a kajillion chance of winning? I believe not. There are people who actually live without lottery in their lives (it sounds like a drug now). Believe it or not, life can go on without those silly hopes that fate will go your way for once. If you think about it, only one person seizes the grand prize and all that money is granted to that sole being. After obtaining that enormous amount of money, the value of sharing slips out of his mind ever so quickly. Of course, there have been the select few who have not wasted their money for purposes of the self. But ultimately, I think we could do without the lottery. It wouldn't be a good idea to breed dreams such as those of the taxi driver's and let them multiply. The sight would be gruesome if I encountered a crushed taxi tomorrow, strewn in the middle of the road.