From time to time when I'm trying to buy something at a convenience store, I'm stuck behind what can best be described as a lottery addict. We had one here some years back who would frequent this one Circle K, stopping there on a Sunday morning, and getting fifteen people or more backed up behind her because she wanted to run thru a whole stack, I'm guessing a hundred of them, to see if she won anything. And I'm sure that winnings, if any, were used to purchase lottery tickets for next week's drawing. Her husband would stand by with this pained look on his face, probably not being able to afford very much fun things in their retirement because his wife was a lottery addict.
I don't go to that store any more, due to a different reason, but a week or so ago I got behind another lottery addict. She had a 3/8 stack of scratcher tickets, and I put down my items and walked out because I don't like having to be behind people with obvious gambling problems. And now that I'm writing this, I'm going to bring up one other anecdote.
While I was in Las Vegas and working for Bigelow Aerospace, one of my more strange co-workers told us during the morning break that he was going to spend $160 on Powerball tickets that weekend. Strange as it may seem, Nevada state law does not allow for a state-run lottery even though nearly every other form of gambling is legal. So when the Powerball jackpot gets big, many of the residents of Trashcan will drive down to the California Lottery store just over the state line across from Primm. Others will drive over to Dolan Springs AZ. Anyway, when my co-worker told us this, I had a response.
"Why don't you write out a check to the lottery and mail it in? You won't have to spend all that time driving down there and waiting in a long line, and besides, the result is going to be the same." He just looked at me like I told him I had lunch with Elvis Presley on board an alien spacecraft in orbit around the planet Mars. Needless to say, he didn't win the jackpot, as that he was back at work the following Monday.
Anyway, I got to thinking about the lottery, that is, the Powerball, the Megamillions, and the Arizona state lottery. I have no recollection of ever buying a Powerball ticket or anything like that. In years past I would buy scratcher tickets if I was out of state, so that I could have a souvenir of my visit, but I haven't done that in many years. One reason is, is that some chump is going to win the jackpot and I won't be that chump. A second reason is, that when I once worked out what the return would be on California scratchers when they started out in 1985, I figured that for every $100 you spent on scratchers you could expect to get $23 back. Their lottery said that 50% would be paid out in prizes, the schools would get most of the rest, but half of that 50% was going to to subsidize the jackpot. That's not a very good return. And the first two jackpots went to an illegal alien and a welfare recipient who blew his entire check on the lottery.
Now let's look at what happens to some winners. If you google "lottery horror stories", you're going to get a lot of results. Read thru them sometime. Their have been broken marriages, homicides, bankruptcies, and all sorts of bad things happening to jackpot winners. Is it worth it? Many of the winners wish they had never played in the first place. Their lives did not change for the better.
Now let's look at something else. If you win the jackpot, do you really think that your life is all of a sudden going to get easy? At that point, you become known, even if you try to hide it. You will get hit with all sorts of people wanting handouts, and many of your family members and other relatives will turn against you if you don't share your money with them. Sure, you could buy them houses and Cadillacs, but will that be enough for them?
In my view, it isn't worth it. A sudden influx of wealth will bring you all sorts of problems you're not prepared for, and repeated attempts to buy your way out of those problems can leave you in a position that was worth before you bought that ticket.
Call me insane if you want to, but the one reason why I don't play the lottery is that I don't want to the problems that come with winning the jackpot, and I'm not going to be foolish enough to think that I would be immune to those problems. The way I see it, I am a blessed individual. I got to do the things I most wanted to do. I got to meet the people I most wanted to meet. I have a neat wife, a nice house, and lots of simple pleasures.
In other words: I have already won the jackpot, and I'm not going to trade that for the other jackpots that are out there.
If you wish to spend money on the lottery, that's your business, even if you're not one of those lottery addicts I described earlier. If you become one, you need help, and if you win that jackpot good luck with that because you're going to need it.
As I said......in my own way, I have already won the jackpot.
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