Are We Really That Bad???

I was watching TV Sunday Morning (i know i should have been at church) and i saw this program on TLC called Million Dollar Christmas. It was showing how recent lottery winners were spending their first holiday as millionaires. My household usually tunes into TLC when they have one of those "While you were gone, I threw a bunch of shit up on the walls" or "lets go throw a bunch of ugly shit up on our friend's wall and let them do the same thing to ours" or "your wardrobe/house is totally jacked up and you should be ashamed of yourself, let us help you buy stuff that is way out of your budget and boost your self-esteem at the same time". But this show was about rags to riches and how ordinary folk are coping with new money.

Normally i couldnt care less about how some lottery winner was throwing his cash away, but like many of the rest of Black America, anytime i see "my people" on the tube i hang around for a minute to see how they are portrayed.

Embarrassed is not a strong enough term for how i felt after watching this program.

Here's a bit of background:

Back in '06, 13 social workers in St. Louis won around $224 million from the powerball drawing. According to the TLC program, all but one quit their jobs. For some reason TLC thought it would be nice to check in with the winners around the holidays to see how they were dealing with their new found wealth.

The first winners they featured were Rob Carlton and Alice Williams. They showed Rob and wife spending money on pool tables and buying things for their house and then they wanted to use their winnings to help out a needy family. So they go to their local outreach program and select a family to help. It was a Grandmother who had adopted her 5 grandkids because their mother had died. Rob and his wife go shopping for them..buying toys and clothes, for the kids and the grandmother. Mrs. Balogger was crying her eyes out....she's sentimental like that. Rob and his wife also held a fund raiser in their home to raise money for another outreach program that feeds the homeless.

Then they showed Alice and how she was using her money. Now this is the same woman who decided to keep working after winning. After watching this program, thats probably her best move because she is going to soon be penniless. Her daughters were enjoying her winnings more than she was. They showed her oldest daughter losing her damn mind at the mall, buying hats and poofy scarfs and shoes and shit...just getting carried away. She bought her other daughter a condo and a car, but neither daughter seemed very grateful. I guess to put Alice in some sort of positive light, they showed how she was crusading for a pay raise for her fellow social workers. She met with her local alderman and state rep to complain about how much work versus little pay the social workers are getting. She fell short of asking them to reach in their pocket and give these folks a raise. I was asking myself, "What dies this women expect?" Everybody feels like they are underpaid. TLC showed her walking up the same old steps complaining about pay raises. In the end they gave her some sort of "Alice Williams Day" proclamation...but no raise.

I feel like she just did that for the camera after the way her daughters were portrayed.

It just didnt sit right with me to see one family using their money to help others and then another family going on a shopping spree. Guess which family was white and which was black. It makes me think back to a line from Chappelle show.."They should've nevah gave you ni**as money!!!" It just proves something my grandmother told me years ago...a fool and his money will soon part ways. I am not calling those people fools (cause that would sound like i am hatin on them for winning), i am just saying that people do foolish things when they get a little money.

Think about this. How many times have you seen a 1990 or earlier car riding around with rims that look like they belong on a tractor? Rims that cost sometimes twice as much as the car they are attached to. To my young readers out there, is that really a good way to spend your money.

Who do those rims benefit? You cant see them while you are in the car!

But this is about the TLC doc.

The second installment was just as bad. Georgia Griffin & Sandra Hayes. Georgia decided to quit also, but instead of sitting around on her ass, she decide she wants to renovate houses and help out the folks with Habitat for Humanity. Once again, very admirable use of your money. But then we have Sandra. I really got tired of hearing her tell people how big her house is. Whether it was the folks in Home Depot, where she spent over $400 on Christmas decorations, or the guys she hired to decorate her front yard for Christmas. But that wasnt the bad part. Sandra son decides that he wants to move back home with mama. He was like in his mid 20's and didnt have a job because "i am working on this music thang...know what I'm saying?"

No, jackass i dont know what you saying...and neither was Sandra. She put his rusty behind out in the streets and towards the end he comes home for Christmas with his homies to do a "Dear Mama" tribute. It was sad. But it wasnt just her son who was acting like Sandra owed him something. She has two sisters, who decided to use their camera time to basically dog their sister out. "Sandra needs to stop thinking about herself and stop being selfish" & "Sandra knows I am living pay check to paycheck and she needs to help me with my bills"

STOP CRYING

I am pretty sure that before Sandra hit the lottery, she was in the same boat. She got lucky. Face it. Accept it and move on. If she wants to give you some of her winnings, thats up to her. And if she doesnt, then move on. "Putting her on Blast" in front of the world is not gonna change her and in fact it may cancel any plans Sandra had to give you anything.

There are countless reports of lottery winners being dead broke a short time after they win. Mrs.Balogger and i talked about this (as i am sure everyone does). There are certain folks that we know we have to take care of IF we ever hit the lottery (Even though i dont play), but i dont plan on being a fool with my money. I want to make sure i wont have to punch a clock for anyone but my self and that my kids get a good start in life.

But since i dont play, i guess i wont ever be faced with that challenge.

But my main concern was how ignorant people can be when they come into some money. If anyone reading this has won or win in the future, take my advice. Change your phone number, call a legitimate financial counselor and make a to-do list for your cash...

and then send me a consultants fee!!!

"Lucky 13" Celebrate Winning $224 Million Powerball Jackpot