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A grand prize of $ 1 billion raises dreams of wealth across the United States the day before the next Mega Millions jackpot draw. The jackpot climbed to $ 1.6 billion on Monday, while the Powerball sister lottery reached at least $ 620 million. (October 22)
AP

Customers purchase Mega Millions lottery tickets in Washington, DC on October 22, 2018.(Photo: ERIK S. LESSER, EPA-EFE)

SAN FRANCISCO – Huge lottery prizes bring dreamers home among the country's regulars, turning skeptics into actors as attitudes shift from "Why bother?" To "Why not?"

While Tuesday's Mega Millions lottery jackpot reached $ 1.6 billion – the highest in the history of the US lottery – ticket sales took off, with extended lines reported this weekend in Los Angeles and nearly 33,000 tickets per minute purchased at some point in Florida.

And this despite the chances of winning at 302 million against one, more than a thousand times more than the chances of being struck by lightning (one in 300,000).

Considering that about three-quarters of the possible number combinations will have been sold when the draw will take place at 11 pm. EDT, a winner or a group of winners will probably emerge this time, asking the perennial question of what they would do with such a fortune.

In three different neighborhoods in San Francisco, where the median price of a single-family home climbed to $ 1.6 million this year, the common chorus was the desire to pay for a home in one of the most expensive markets in the country. country.

"I would leave my studio with my two daughters and my boyfriend," said Sofia Millham, 40, who wore baby Phoebe, 4 months old, while she and her former colleague, Elizabeth Kerrisk, had bought tickets for Mega Millions at their convenience. store in the Noe Valley neighborhood.

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The two government employees are also involved in pooling resources to acquire tickets, but with the end of maternity leave and the desire to stay home with Phoebe, Millham wanted to improve her chances.

Further east in the Mission, a traditionally Latino district that has become increasingly gentrified in recent years, Mik Gaspay also dreams of owning a home. The 42-year-old has called this perspective impossible for most people. "

That's why spending $ 5 to $ 10 for a handful of lottery tickets seems like a way to indulge in an inexpensive fantasy. If that became reality, Gaspay said he and his wife would do more than just find new housing.

"We talked about opening a school," he said. "Of course, you can buy what you want, but what would be the best thing to do? It would be great to be able to create a shelter for the homeless, solutions, doing things for the community. It seems that the mere fact of buying things would become so boring. ''

More: Powerball, Mega Millions Jackpots: Everything You Need to Know

Related: The numbers behind Mega Millions: Why lottery jackpots are getting bigger

On the other side of the country, the Mega Millions lottery, as well as Wednesday's Powerball draw, which, with $ 620 million, would be the fifth-largest jackpot of all time in the United States, allowed convenience store clerk to work feverishly.

Tiffany Cullen, store manager, took a breather Monday afternoon at the opening of a 7-Eleven that opened on July 27 in Cape Coral, Florida, after a few days later. a crowd of customers bought lottery tickets for sports drinks, chocolate bars and gasoline.

"The lottery brings all these people in, and then they get even more," Cullen said. "From 7 am to 8 pm, we will have 60 clients. From 17h to 18h, we will have 70 to 80 customers in one hour. It's more of a customer by the minute. "

She was even caught in the excitement and bought a ticket in her own store. In case she wins, Cullen dreams big.

"I would buy my own island," she said.

In Chicago, Nathan Harrell tried his luck in the lottery for the first time in years by spending $ 40 split equally between the Mega Millions and Powerball tickets. Harrell, 36, works in finance and said he did not think about the lottery until the jackpot was as high as he was in the headlines.

His approach to landing such a manna would be conservative. Harrell said he and his wife would likely continue to work and build a trust fund for their two children.

"We will not sweat the little things anymore," he said. "Nothing crazy, but who knows."

The Mega Millions lottery is played in 44 states, in addition to Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands. Of course, the winners' plans for big money are as varied as the country in which they live.

Quo News News, throughout his life, Earl Howard, said he would leave the city to financially occupy his family while remaining discreet, Quin Newsom, a gasoline salesman at Nashville, Tenn., Said he would "share this information with my colleagues. . We will retire from here. And then I would go to the Bahamas. "

It should be noted that most of the people who answered the questions of the journalists expressed a strong desire to share the bonanza, and not only with their relatives.

"In addition to paying the bills and taking care of the family, I think it would be very fun to do good deeds for people," said Michelle Connaghan, 48, while she was picking up a pizza for his family and a Mega Millions ticket at a convenience store in Omaha, Nebraska. "And I'm sure we'd take a pretty awesome holiday while we're doing good surprise actions."

Contributor: David Dorsey, Fort Myers News-Press, Associated Press

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