Norwegian teenagers have been accused in local media lately of being obsessed with how much money they receive in gifts when they go through traditional confirmation ceremonies. One teenager in Northern Norway was being hailed this week for giving away half of what he received in an unexpected windfall.
Newspaper Framtid i Nord reported that the 15-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous, had received three lottery tickets on Sunday as a confirmation gift from the daughter of his father’s partner.
“I won on the third ticket I scraped,” he told Framtid i Nord. The amount was a stunning NOK 1 million (USD 172,000), and he immediately called the girl who’d given him the tickets and told her he wanted to give her half the money.
“She cried for several hours because she was so happy,” he said.
He didn’t tell the rest of his family, though, until the very end of the traditional speeches held at his confirmation party later that day. “It was almost like he said, ‘oh, by the way, something funny happened to me today. I got a lottery ticket as a gift and I won a million kroner,'” his mother told Framtid i Nord.
She was shocked by the windfall but not that her son was giving away half of his winnings. “He has always been good at making others happy,” she said. “There may not be many people who’d do what he did, but I’m very proud of him.”
Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund
Please support our news service. Readers in Norway can use our donor account. Our international readers can click on our “Donate” button:
