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A Penny For Your Thoughts
January 11
When
I was growing up, my father said something that has stuck with me to
this present day. I think it's part of who I am because of it. He said
this, "Money makes people do strange things. Money doesn't define who
you are, but it defines what you would do in certain situations. Once
money comes into play, we find out what sort of person you really are."
Last time I went to Atlantic City with Jason Block, he spent $20 in a
Deal or No Deal slot machine. I put in a $20 and I went to the Deal or
No Deal Bonus Round. I had 3 cases left - Enough coins to make $100, $2
and $1. The offer would put Jason and I at $45, which would be enough to
make the money back and a little. I took the deal. The case we had was
the $100 case, but I didn't care as much because the goal was to get
Jay's money back. Goal accomplished.
However, not everyone listens to their own goals. Case in Point: Deal or
No Deal this season. Heather McKee, who was looking to get some money
for both herself and for charity. Thrice, she had the opportunity to
take some reasonable sums that would qualify for that ($207,000, $45,000
and $71,000) - and didn't do it. Why? Greed. The first offer is
understandable - you had a pair of Million Dollar cases on the board and
knocking them both out in the same round is just bad luck. But turning
down $71,000 when you have no safety net is just plain foolish. And even
the last offer of $5,500 is not awful money and you could still do
something with it. It's not like you had $1 or $5 left on the board. So
make it four times that Heather had a chance of goal fulfillment - and
four times lost. We got to see Heather's priorities, and unfortunately,
they weren't pretty. Neither were the results - she was the first person
in Deal or No Deal history to walk off with a penny - far under a number
of opportunities for her to satisfy her goal of something for herself
and charity.
But she's not the person in my mind who's the biggest offender. That
honor goes to another contestant from season 3. That person is Donna
DiBiase. All Donna wanted to do was to make a better life for her and
her son. All she wanted was to get enough money enough money for college
and a chance to move back to New York. She gets there - $96,000 offer,
but unlike Heather, there's no safety net. She has a huge gap under the
million ($400,000) and nothing more than $5,000 after that, which will
mean a brutal drop should the million go away. Even after taxes, if you
stuck the remaining amount ($70,000 or so) in a maturity fund for her
son, he'll have plenty to go to college with. So she actually GETS the
money that she needs should she deal. Instead, she got hit by the greed
bug. The result is enough to take her son out to a diner for $25.
If you want to do something for a worthy cause, go to Cheryl Jackson's
web site -
www.thegivingmovement.org. Now Cheryl is a player from Season one
who also probably went too far and wound up with $5. But the difference
here is that she made a pledge to Oprah Winfrey that she would give
$100,000 that she made on Deal or No Deal to charity. She never got to
that level (though a $100,000+ deal was there, it would have been under
the mark post-taxes, as was discovered on our interview with her), but
the priority wasn't the money - it was the charity. You could argue that
some was better than nothing, but at least I commend her for sticking to
her beliefs and trying to fulfill a promise - a promise that both
Heather and Donna would have fulfilled if they stopped and took the
deal.
Now I'm not saying that money isn't important. Of course money is
important. But money pales in comparison to other things in life - like
enjoying life or enjoying other people who can use the money more than
you can. And so what if you don't win the million - enough money to
complete the goal you want is vastly more important. That's what makes
game show train wrecks fascinating - not just the pursuit of money, but
what you are willing to risk - and lose - to get it.
Gordon Pepper's offer... that you e-mail him at
gordon@gameshownewsnet.com.
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