It’s a question anybody who has played the lottery has asked themselves: “How fast would I quit my job if I won?”
Well, supermarket delivery driver Jonny Johnston apparently isn’t “anyone”: The man from Northern Ireland won the equivalent of $4.8 million and still showed up to work his shift at Tesco on December 23.
He told the Belfast Telegraph that when he was notified by the company that runs the lottery that there was “good news about his ticket,” he didn’t check it out, and went on partying with his colleagues.
The next morning, however, he was in “disbelief” when he saw what he’d actually won — so much so that he called the company to make sure he wasn’t being scammed.
“Seeing as it was still early, we popped the kettle on and toasted the amazing news with a cup of coffee,” he tells the paper.
After that, he reported to work, for fear of leaving his colleagues “in a lurch,” as the newspaper puts it.
His partner, Christina Williams, told the BBC that she and Johnston still plan to work for now, despite their windfall: “We need to keep our feet on the ground, it doesn’t make us different people. We like to work, it keeps us busy and gives you a purpose.”
For now, however, they’re planning their first family trip abroad, to the Caribbean with their three adult children.