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A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL
Real winners

By 0, 7/11/2002

CORPORATE AMERICA could take a page from Michael Pinney's book. He split a $2 million lottery win with a friend this week because it was the right thing to do - ''a real no-brainer,'' he says.

Pinney, 33, and Larry Quinn, 35, have been friends since they slammed locker doors next to each other at Rockland High School. They had a running joking fantasy about what they would do if they ever won the lottery, promising each other that the first thing they'd do would be to split the cash.

No contract, no handshake, no loopholes, no fancy bookkeeping to keep track of who put in what for which tickets - just the light-hearted certainty of friendship.

So when Pinney saw the numbers after buying a couple of scratch tickets on a whim last weekend, he immediately called Quinn and said, ''We just won $2 million.''

Sounds simple, but given the lawsuits, family feuds, and dissolved friendships that rot under the chance winnings of a game that is usually a losing gamble, this easy arrangement seems something of a small miracle.

Given the lack of integrity and failed public trust in the highest offices of America's multibillion-dollar corporations, this quiet commitment to something bigger than money is an inspiration and says a lot more than President Bush did to Wall Street on Tuesday.

And it's not the first time Pinney remembered what a lot of people might have dismissed as high school daydreams. Six years ago, just before Pinney got married, he won $50,000 in the lottery and offered to give Quinn half. Quinn told him to keep it, joking, ''No deal unless it's a million or more.''

Pinney shrugs off surprise at his largesse and media cynicism, saying of his friend, ''He'd do the same for me.''

Pinney, who puts in 71-hour weeks doing air testing for an asbestos removal company, wants to make time to go back to school for a degree in psychology. He and his wife, Ann-Marie, have a 22-month-old son and a 5-month-old daughter. They plan to move out of their condo and buy a home - and get a car with air conditioning that works.

Quinn started a landscaping business this year and bought a home in Plymouth. He and his wife, Jacqueline, are expecting twins in November. He had been looking for a part-time job to cover lost income during his wife's maternity leave when Pinney called with the good news.

The men plan to split $68,000 annually for 20 years - the amount the state distributes after taxes. They say they look at the money as a nice, healthy cushion that will help but not spin their lives out of control.

If only everyone in the business world saw things so clearly and so wisely.