WHO
DOESN'T WANT TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?!!!
Mush's Chronicle
of his WWTBAM Experience:
Okay...first, let
me put this disclaimer in that I am living proof that ANYTHING can happen!!!
I have always been a
trivia buff, and my mother has always tried to get me to try out for a game show
to see what I can do. I always figured I'd try when I was middle-aged and
probably end up on something like 'Win Ben Stein's Money.'
When 'Millionaire'
first hit the airwaves, I fell in love with it and tried calling in a few times
to qualify. For those who do not know the procedure back then, it involved
answering a series of three questions similar to the "fastest finger"
format. The questions became increasingly difficult as you progressed
through them. I could never get that last question right. After
about 5 days of trying, I gave up, content to watch the show and scream at the
television when the contestants were having trouble (admit it, you do the same
thing!)
School, work, and
other commitments took over, and I was unable to watch the show much until the
spring semester of 2001, when I had a couple nights off from class each
week. The jackpot then was growing to nearly $2 million dollars, so I
figured that I'd try to call in again just for fun. On my second day of
calling, the magic hit...I finally got past the third question (a literary
question, and I got it right!). I picked my choice of tape dates and a
phone number to contact me in case I was randomly picked to make it to the next
round. Apparently, approximately 50,000 people get all three questions
right and pick a particular tape date...the computer randomly picks 40 people to
advance to the next round.
I jokingly told my
wife I'd stay home from a home interior party "just in case Millionaire
calls", not thinking I'd hear from the show. The phone rang, and
someone claiming to be from 'Millionaire' hit me with a barrage of qualifying
questions. I at first thought it was Sheri (my wife) and her friends
joking around with me...until they started asking the questions. When
Sheri got home from her party, she (as you could imagine) thought I was full of
it when I showed her the information. I had made the semi-final round!!!!!