What’s it like to win the lottery? Well, there are pros and cons. Pros include having and doing all kinds of things you’ve always wanted. Cons include the negative responses you may hear – from people who can probably complain about anything.

Some things get reversed – hearing from long, lost friends and relatives may turn from something wonderful to something suspicious – so at worst, you’re simply trading in many of your old problems for a different kind, and most winners seem to prefer the new ones.

Judy Taylor recently won $93 million in the California Lotto yet plans to go back to work as an executive assistant. Comments on the news article from SFGate.com provide perfect examples of the type of responses you get when you rise above the crowd in any way – plus a few good laughs. Here are a few of the best – both fun and serious, thoughtful and inane:

“I KNOW HER! SHE’S A VERY CLOSE FRIEND OF MINE! I think she owes me money from a long time ago! I had her child out of wedlock! Right after that hit and run…and right before she wined and dined and had her way with me! WOW! What a coincidence! I just can’t believe this coincidence….now wheres that phone number?”

“This is GREED in true form. With all that money, she should retire with her winnings and LET SOME POOR SOUL WHO NEEDS A JOB have her old one.”

“no plans to quit her job?? lol. she’s full of it. and if not, the lottery was wasted on her….”

From there on out, most comments came from people who have apparently thought this through and learned from others’ mistakes.

“…I happen to really like my job and the people I work with. Would I continue to work 40 hours a week? Probably not…but I wouldn’t just abandon my co-workers either.”

“It says a lot about the person when they come into something like this. I’ve known 3 lottery winners in the bay area. All three let it change them too much….”

“Work gives people a sense of purpose. A life of idleness under an umbrella at the beach while sipping margaritas may sound fun, but it gets old very quick. People need to feel useful. It’s a sign of her maturity that she intends to keep working.”

Angela Kelly won the biggest Euro Millions jackpot ever – £35million – in August. That’s the equivalant of her salary as a post office worker for 2,000 years. She’ll likely continue to sort a lot of mail, but it will all be addressed to her.

Other things will stay the same: Angela likes small cars and will continue to drive hers (which is currently in the shop following an accident – she’s been driving her sister’s car for three weeks). Her 14-year-old son will go back to school, finish, exams, and get a job. “He’s a down to earth boy who’ll do as he is told.”

Angela bought her ‘lucky dip’ Euro Lottery ticket Friday at Sainsbury’s in East Kilbride for just £1.50. The Euro Millions jackpot had rolled over three times without a winner. The winning numbers were 23, 40, 42, 43 and 49, the lucky star numbers were 2 and 6.

If that headline caught your attention, if you thought even for a moment that Bill Gates might want to give you money, or if you have EVER forwarded the ridiculous email about getting paid for forwarding that email “just in case”…then please, for your own sake, the sake of your loved ones and the peace of everyone in your email address book…read on.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you get an email telling you the good news that you have won a lottery that you never entered, you can get excited if you want, but don’t write back and don’t tell all your friends – unless you want to cast doubt on the quality of your judgment, that is.

If you do receive such an email, it’s likely to “come from” El Gordo Primitiva, a legitimate Spanish state-run lottery since 1812 and whose name is the most famous target of forgeries.

If you’re too curious not to follow up on such an email, “just in case,” you may prefer to satisfy your curiosity by reading about someone else’s experience. After contacting the email sender as instructed, a man who identifies himself only as John Doe received this message:

“please beinformed you have won,and forlow as directed

“thanks for your response,but note you will callect your stake win from safekeepers securitymadarid spain,so please contact them at email. mailto:@safekeepers_wld@yahoo.com sendthem mail with your winning information ,tell: 34 619 520130,fax:34645571040, so you will reach them personaly and dirsctly.

“always keep us over here informed,about development between you and them.

“thanks”

Now, does that sound like a communication from an established government agency? Nevertheless, Mr. Doe recalled having been given a few lottery tickets several years earlier, and since he was retired, perhaps he had nothing better to do than respond, so he did.

Luckily, John was bright enough not to fill out real information when asked for his bank account information. He continued the farce as he became sure it wasn’t real and even sent fake Western Union money grams that the scammers attempted to cash.

Now John augments his living hoping people will click the Google ads on the web page where his story is spread across many pages.

Good news! No Mega Millions lotto ticket sold in any state matched the numbers 14, 19, 27, 34, and 48, with meganumber 3 on Friday night. That means no one walked away with the $17 million first prize.

That also means no one will suffer a heart attack this weekend as they tremblingly match up the numbers on their ticket with those in the newspaper or being splashed across the television screen.

Finally, it also means that someone may pick up $26 million on Tuesday.

In other news, a house full of winners (77799 of them, that is – a full house) took home between $250,000 and $2.

2nd prize (5 of 5): 3 winners @ $250,000
3rd prize (4 + MEGA BALL): 4 @ $10,000
4th prize (4 OF 5): 314 @$150
5th prize (3 + MEGA BALL): 268 @ $150
6th prize (2 + MEGA BALL): 3,651 @ $10
7th prize (3 OF 5): 10,979 @ $7
8th prize (1 + MEGA BALL): 21,676 @ $3
9th prize (MEGA BALL): 40,904 @ $2

The moral of this story is that no news is often good news, and true no-win situations are rare.