AutoTopic: What Does Wealth Mean To You?

This AutoTopic sat in the drafts for a while. Of course, the recent Mega Million lottery thing sparked some thought on the topic, and sort of enabled me to think about the subject beyond dreams of having piles and piles of all the bacon I want.

A quick check of the internet tells me that lottery sonofabitch got up to $656 million dollars before some lucky schmuck pulled down the winning numbers. Naturally, you have to sit and imagine a better life enabled by a pile of green that huge. I’ll admit that I’d probably buy a house, a car or two, make some investments, get that woodshop I’ve always dreamed about, and with the refrigerator with nothing but beer in it. Yeah.

Then on the other hand, I’m reminded of the stories you always hear whenever someone wins a lottery. You know the ones I mean. The financial consultants who take the money and vanish. The random people who just sue your ass because hey, it’s not fucking fair that you won and they didn’t. The tax complications. The family members who suddenly appear, hands open.

I can’t say that if all that crap comes with it, it would be worth it. Sure, more money than you can spend in one day is useful, but frankly I don’t want that associated shit with it. I just don’t have the time, and I’m pretty sure that all that money wouldn’t buy me any of that.

Really and truly, wealth means I don’t have to put up with any of that crap. It also means:

Bacon. By the delicious truckload, too.

Assistants. I admit that with enough money, I’d use some of it to have a bunch of folks who do stuff for me, like carry extra beer or make bacon. Or make sure the toilet wasn’t running after I flushed. Oh, and take out the trash.

Tools. Enough money would mean I could go to Home Depot and leave with cool, new shit and no guilt. That would be so much better than what I do now, which is leave with nothing and a big pile of angsty frustration.

Books. I once claimed that I could walk into a big bookstore with $10,000 and emerge with a hand truck and pocket change. This is one of the first things I’d set out to prove. Great news is, with a lot of money and no need to work anymore, I’d have time to read.

There’s probably more I could come up with. Maybe someday if I’m wealthy I’ll have a dude who does nothing but come up with what I’m thinking, since I don’t do it well in a consistent manner. That same dude could remind me of shit I forget too.