My Question of the Day: You and a coworker decide to pool your money to buy scratch-and-win lottery tickets. You all will each put in a certain amount of money weekly until you’ve reached a designated threshold. Once you’ve reached that amount, you all will use the money to buy as many tickets as you can and then you’ll split whatever you win.

After reaching the threshold, you go together to buy the lottery tickets. Your coworker hands the cashier the cash, and the cashier gives the receipt and the tickets to your coworker, who then splits the stack of tickets and gives you half. You take your tickets home, and your partner does the same. You get home, scratch off all your tickets and end up with a total of $100 in winnings.

On your way to work, you stop by the same store where you bought the tickets to cash in your winnings. When you walk up to the register, you notice a new photo behind the counter. It’s a picture of your grinning coworker holding up a huge $75,000 check. You whoop with joy, rush out of the store and drive to your coworker’s home, thinking about how you’re going to spend your half of the $75,000.

When you get to your coworker’s house, s/he is less than enthused to see you. Instead of inviting you inside, s/he holds you at the door and explains that s/he doesn’t plan to split the money with you, because the $75,000 winning ticket was in his/her half of the stack you all split the day before. You explain that you all agreed to split the tickets and then split whatever you won. Your coworker says s/he doesn’t remember that being the agreement and closes the door.

What do you do?

My 2 Cents: This is a situation in which I’m sure I’d never find myself.

One, I don’t play the lottery.

Two, I’d never pool money with a coworker.

And, three, I’d never allow anyone to be in control of making all the transactions and giving me the part s/he wanted me to have. I’m way too much of a control freak for that.

Having said all that, let’s assume that I was foolish enough to find myself in this scenario…

I would be angry and upset. I’d probably rant and rave and cry. In the end, however, I’d have to accept that I used poor judgment in the way I allowed things to play out and eventually, after several days of being heart sick, I’d move on with my life.

I this scenario, there’s nothing I can do because there’s no written agreement, the other person has the receipt and has already cashed in the winning ticket under his/her own name.

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