$50,000,000

Dreams for Free Log, 5 April 2013

On Thursday, April 4, the high temperature for the day was 46 degrees Fahrenheit with intermittent sleet and rain showers. The next day it was 65 degrees and sunny. The rapid change in weather—from wintery, wet grayness to warm breezes—brought people out onto the streets of Greensboro in force. People walking on Elm Street shared their dreams with me at various times of the day and night. One woman explained that after she won she would “act a fool” at her job so they would fire her and she could collect unemployment. (She really didn’t like her job!) A man in his thirties shared with me that the lottery ruined his life after winning a large prize for hitting 5 of 6 numbers in a Florida lottery years ago. He was finally recovering from drug addiction and a divorce and wanted nothing to do with me or the lottery.

I also collected dreams at the Spring Fling at College Hill Co-operative Childcare. Families and staff were gathered to socialize, break bread and play in the inflatable bounce house. As expected, some parents planned to save money for their children’s education, their future retirement, and to travel, but others dreamed of having a polka band on retainer, getting liposuction, and getting a tattoo of his daughter riding his dog while holding a taco.