OPELOUSAS - The "Wheel of Fortune" finally turned the right way for New Orleans evacuee Jacquelyn Sherman.
On Tuesday, at Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino, she was playing a slot machine patterned after the popular game when she hit the jackpot.
Her winnings: $1.6 million before taxes.
"When it happened, I didn't know what was going on," Sherman said. "I had just put in my $20 in the "Wheel of Fortune" machine when it hit. My feeling about this win is better than being blessed. Thank you, Lord."...
Now, I obviously don't know what this poor woman has been through in the last 5 weeks or however long it has been since the huricane, although I have done what I think is my fair share of doing what I can - and I have tried to spread the word about Operation Eden so that people will realize and remember that the rebuilding process is not just a long one, but in some places it really hasn't even begun.
That being said - I can't believe this woman was playing friggin slots - and not just slots, but $20 slots. Like I said, I don't know anything about this woman other than what it says below, but if she has gotten any money from FEMA or charities that actually help people, she should have to pay it back. That money is for food & diapers & rent - not playing $20 slots.
If she wants to go and blow of some steam and forget her troubles for a while, I understand - but there are nickle slots (I think) and quarter slots. Do you know how many times you can LOSE at quarter slots before you run out of $20? Right - 80! That means, if you drop one quarter every 45 seconds, without leting up until you are broke, you will have gotten one full hour of entertainment.
And I haven't gotten into the whole blasphemy issue. I don't love Jesus or anything, but isn't it odd that this woman thinks winning money is better than being blessed by the almighty?
Hopefully we will get a follow up story like "Evacuee donates half of winnings to huricane relief efforts."
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... Sherman's road to becoming a millionaire started when Hurricane Katrina threatened New Orleans, leading her to evacuate to her sister's home in Opelousas.
It so happened that by Tuesday, after more than a month of living with dozens of displaced family members with no real signs of hope on the horizon, Sherman spoke that morning with her niece, Jamie Sherman, about being depressed.
Together, they prayed.
"I told my aunt that God works in mysterious ways and that I had prayed that something good would happen for the whole family to be happy," Jamie Sherman said.
That "something good" and more would come later that night when Jacquelyn Sherman and her sister Clarissa Sherman decided to take some time out for entertainment and pay a visit to Evangeline Downs Racetrack & Casino. Before she knew what hit her, Jacquelyn Sherman went from having practically nothing to being a millionaire.
"I have to get an attorney and make some decisions about my future," she said Wednesday at a news conference at the racetrack. "It hasn't all sunk in right now. I'm tired. We were up very late last night and back here very early. I plan to go home right now and rest, take a nap. I have so many thoughts going through my mind about what to do and how to do it."
Jacquelyn Sherman's win is the single largest jackpot won since the casino's opening.
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