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Meet The Poor Man Who Didn't Join The Winning Lotto Pool
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 1, 2011
Modified Apr 1, 2011
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Via Times Union
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 1, 2011
Modified Apr 1, 2011
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Meet state worker Michael Kosko (not the winner pictured here). As you can see from this photo in the NY Post, Mike's a Yankees fan. But after losing out on a $319 million lotto jackpot because he didn't have the $2 to join the office pool, he should probably retire that cap and come on over to the Mets. (As Hunter S. Thompson once said of Las Vegas: "Learn to enjoy losing!") Yesterday Kosko, who works in the IT department of the Homes and Community Renewal agency in Albany, talked to the press about losing the lottery. And by golly, he's determined not to let it ruin his life!
"Everything happens for a reason," Kosko told the Post. "[The winners] deserve it, they are the hardest working people I've ever met." And though his buddies don't seem inclined to ever let him live this one down (one told him, "I could've let you borrow the $2 if you really needed it."), Kosko is walking on the sunny side of the street. "I have a job with the state doing work I love," he said, with no sign of choking on a bilious self-loathing that might consume a lesser man for the rest of his life. "I'm not going to sit around and ask myself that question for the next 20 years. I'm moving on. It's all good." That's the spirit, Mike! It's all good-diddily-ood! Losin' the Lotto's no big deal-i-otto, that's his motto!
And at least Kosko's not alone; there are four other coworkers who usually join the pool but decided against it. Together they call themselves "The Five Survivors." Which is a much preferable team name than The Five People Who Will Be Kicking Themselves For The Rest Of Their Lives. And who knows, maybe the winners will throw them a bone? Winner Kristin Baldwin says, "We really haven't had a chance to think about them"—you know, what with all the thinking about how she never has to work another day in her life with those people. And winner Tracy Sussman told reporters, "I think the other five are happy for us," and left without saying whether she'd share with her co-workers.
The Times Union has a thorough account of how they collectively dealt with the news that they were in possession of the winning ticket, which was left in an unlocked desk at the office overnight—until John Hilton drove over on Saturday morning to secure it, taking his grown son along. "I need a bodyguard," Hilton explains, and later another winner likened him to "Gollum in 'The Lord of the Rings,' protecting the ticket like it was his 'precious.' " For safekeeping, Hilton stashed it in a plastic bag and hid it in a bucket of birdseed in his basement, biding time until the state Lottery office opened on Monday morning and he could climb to the top of the building and throw it into the fires of Mount Doom.
Tagged
losers
lottery
megamillions
state lottery
winners
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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