Lottery Winners Are People Too

"I really like being a lottery winner," Mike told his wife Rosanne. "It sure beats going to work."

Rosanne smiled back at her husband. She couldn't remember ever seeing Mike so relaxed and happy for such a long period of time. "It certainly is better than going to work for Mavis Schuyler."

"Honestly, honey, I don't know how you stood working for that broad for so many years." Mike poured them each a fresh cup of coffee. "It must have been pure torture."

"Not really," Rosanne replied. "I liked working in that gorgeous house and I liked Brad and Tyler. It was Mavis and her late husband who were hard to handle. Especially Mavis."

The telephone rang, interrupting their conversation. Rosanne answered and immediately looked up at Mike in surprise. "Well, hello, Mavis. We were just talking about you...no, of course not. I'd never say anything like that about you! Dinner at the club? Tonight?"

Mike frantically shook his head. "No!" he whispered. "Tell her we're busy! Tell her I'm sick! Anything!"

"I don't know," Rosanne said, stalling for time, "we were thinking about staying home tonight." She listened for a few more moments. "Oh, all right. We'll see you in an hour."

"You didn't," Mike said when Rosanne hung up the phone.

"I'm afraid that I did."

"You said we'd go out to dinner with Mavis Schuyler? Why?"

"She sounded so lonely. You know she doesn't have many friends. I felt sorry for her."

"Honey, that woman treated you like an indentured servant for too many years. Besides, you should feel sorry for her. She's awful and that's why she doesn't have many friends. Do you honestly think she'd ask you out if we hadn't won the lottery?"

"If we hadn't won the lottery I'd still be working for her and there's no way she'd ask me to join her for dinner."

"So why would you do it now?"

"I told you.  I feel sorry for her."

"So send her a box of chocolates but let's not join her for dinner. I suppose she's going to drag one of her loser boyfriends along."

"Oh, Mike, I can't call her up and cancel. It would hurt her feelings."

Mike looked at his wife squarely. "And it didn't hurt your feelings when she forgot your birthday and to give you a Christmas present every year you worked for her? It didn't hurt your feelings when she planted cookies in hidden spots or wrote her initials on the top of tables that you'd forgotten to dust? It didn't hurt your feelings that even though you were her employee for twenty years she still didn't know the names of your kids or your husband?"

"When you put it that way, maybe I will cancel." Rosanne stopped herself. "No, I don't want to be like Mavis. Come on, honey, what's one dinner? It's fun to go to the country club now that we're rich and they do have good food. Tomorrow night you can pick where we'll eat."

"It's a good thing I'm crazy about you," Mike grumbled. "But no matter what, I'm not going to have a good time."

Rosanne didn't reply since in her heart of hearts she knew that anyone who had dinner with Mavis was highly unlikely to have a good time.