What now? New Yorkers put a brave face on Powerball-related disappointment
Across the region Sunday, people were reluctantly accepting that no, they had not won the $590 million Powerball jackpot. They were shelving fantasies, adjusting dreams and revising hopes -- until the next time.
"I obey a saying: Do not spend money you do not have yet. That is how I stay in a reality environment," and avoid lottery-related disappointments, explained Peter Gonzalez, 50, a DJ from Wakefield in the Bronx. Gonzalez is one of those guys who can go four months without even checking his numbers, but even he knew Sunday that the single winner of the winning ticket in the 43-state game -- 10, 13, 14, 22, 52 and a Powerball number of 11 -- had purchased his or her life-changing chit at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, Fla.
Andre McCray, 38, owner of Mad Man Creativity, held the fantasies pertaining to his 10 Powerball tickets in check until Saturday. "Then I started dreaming of owning a movie studio to make real, Afrocentric, positive movies." He'll continue to play the lottery, even though he knows he should probably seek more conventional financing for his studio. "The far-out dreams we always keep going for -- it's what keeps us going as a people," he explained.
You have to learn how to lose if you're going to gamble, rationalized Jorge Batista, 44, a real estate attorney in Hillside, NJ. "I never get my hopes up. I don't expect to win, but I just want to be in it, just in case. If you don't play, your chance of winning is zero," Batista said.
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