Why I Don't Want to Live in Manhappenin' Beach

So, a retired Southern Californian aerospace engineer decides he wants to sell his house in Manhattan Beach, an LAX-adjacent burgh that should always be referred to as "Manhappenin' Beach." Only he comes up with a novel way of auctioning off the $800,000, ocean-views structure—he announces an essay contest, with an entry fee of $195, on the topic of "Why I Want to Live in Manhattan Beach, Calif." You can see how this is going to end in tears, right?

A robust 1,813 essays arrive. The winner, understandably (given the topic), is Canadian. But he doesn't claim his prize. One of the sore losers notices the retired aerospace guy is still living in the house long after the contest is wrapped, so he files a class-action lawsuit. In the meantime, the engineer sells his house for around $1 million. The jury rules for the plaintiffs, and … well, here's the punchline:

Jurors agreed that the contestants should additionally split between them the approximately $1 million for which Waldrep sold the house last year. But in a mix-up, jurors inadvertently awarded the 1,812 essayists $1 million each.

Jurors discovered their $1.8-billion mistake while chatting with lawyers after the trial. When they attempted to return to the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Andria Richey to rectify things, they learned they were too late: They had been dismissed.

Whole thing here.