THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 26, 1994 TAG: 9408260007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
Faye Bryant of Bowling Green, a Virginia lottery winner, doesn't want to leave the workplace. But she is among several public-school personel whose jobs were axed in Fredericksburg in an economizing move. For a decade she had been a middle-school secretary.
Money's no problem, of course. She and her husband, Eddie, who have three children, split the $20.6 million Lotto jackpot last Dec. 18 with a Patrick County family. The Bryants should manage handily on the $350,000 a year after-tax income that is their half of the winnings.
Eddie Bryant left his job at an electric cooperative. But Mrs. Bryant had expected to stick at her secretarial post and laments being laid off. She says she may volunteer time, energy and occupational skills for worthy purposes if she doesn't find paid employment. Considering the endless appeals to charities, her services surely would be welcomed.
Lottery losers could wish for her problem. Coping with abrupt affluence figures usually to be easier than adjusting to sudden poverty, though each can be hazardous to health and peace of mind. The late nightclub singer Sophie Tucker pithily expressed the common wisdom: ``I've been rich and I've been poor,'' she said, ``and believe me, honey, rich is better.''
Usefulness, at home and beyond, is best of all, which Mrs. Bryant seemingly perceives. This world of woe, as the headlines remind us daily, could never have enough helping hands. by CNB