Editorial: Fortune and the fortunate

I probably wasn't the only person surprised to see Lotto's $26 million man Trevor front up to the nation's media after his massive win at the weekend.

And how great was it to hear he'd be heading back to work at a supermarket the next day, along with a lot of people who don't have $26 million more than they did last week?

Of course, it was never going to be quite that easy for Trevor (though you can only feel so sorry for New Zealand's newest multimillionaire).

He didn't make his 5am shift on Tuesday as promised, after being overwhelmed by public attention.

I'm sure the lotteries people warned Trevor about the downsides of being instantly insanely rich, but you could forgive the bloke for being a little distracted these past few days.

He appeared to take a few minor precautions: Only being identified as Trevor and only identifying his workplace as a Countdown in the greater Waikato region.

But by Tuesday his full name was published and we knew he worked at Countdown Huntly.

When you come from a small town like Te Kauwhata, there's probably only so much anonymity you can expect - part of the reason for fronting up and revealing himself as the big winner.

Apparently most of the attention directed his way was positive, but he can't have been too surprised when people started hitting him up for money.

Now he's in hiding, ducking the slings and arrows as he comes to terms with his outrageous fortune.

So what next for the man described as New Zealand's most eligible bachelor?

You might think he'd have no trouble finding someone special but, according to Liverpool's Four Wise Men, money can't buy you love and he'll never know if that someone is genuine.

Ah, such are the problems of the rich and now famous.

As for the rest of us, while Trevor's tale shows dreams can come true, it's probably best if we do have a decent Plan B ... just in case our numbers don't come up.

(I, for one, would certainly turn up for an early shift after winning the big one. And, if the gods of fate are reading this, I'm looking forward to putting that promise to the test.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

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