It could be you ... Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP
What would you do if you won the lottery? If you bought a Euro Millions ticket in Devon last September, and you're quick, you could be about to find out. Otherwise, you have at least another day to ponder before the next draw.
If it's your first day back after a four-day weekend, quitting your job is probably high on your to-do-after-winning-the-lottery list. Imagine never having to set the alarm again, never having to struggle with the commute. But as Luke Pittard found out, having time off isn't all you might hope. The 25-year-old is back at his old job in McDonald's, 18 months after winning £1.3m. He says he missed his friends, and had found there was only so much relaxing a person could do.
He's not the only person to go back after a lottery win. The Mirror offers a few more examples, including a jackpot winner who works part-time at a residential home after landing a £11.5m jackpot.
While it sounds crazy at first, there seems to be a lot to be said for working after a win. Like Luke Pittard, people get companionship from work, according to psychologist Sharon Parker. They also get a structure to their day, she says, and a sense of achievement and meaning that is difficult to derive from watching endless episodes of Murder She Wrote.
Work probably feels a lot different when you choose to be there, rather than feeling forced to earn a crust - which must be better for the employee. But is it possible to feel as motivated when you have no financial need to keep going? Would it be annoying to work alongside a lottery winner who you knew wasn't counting the days to payday? Or would you be inspired to be working with someone who wasn't just in it for the money?
