The lottery ticket falls into my wastebasket. It never came through on its promise of over 200 million dollars, at least for Earl and me. But it did make me wonder about the phenomenon of the lottery.
We don’t buy tickets very often; in fact, we only play the game when the prize reaches certain high stakes, as if the original one million dollars you can win just isn’t enough to bother with. I have friends who act the same way, so it makes me wonder if the chances of winning are less when the prize is more.
I picked up a brochure about the lottery when we bought last Friday’s ticket. It was extremely informative about the odds of winning. I learned there is a one in 88 chances of winning two dollars, and a one in 152 chances of winning $3. Since that’s about what Earl and I spend, by combining our assets, it seems like a low risk. But, in the finest of fine print, I also learned there is a 1 one 135,145,920 chances of winning the whole tamale. I guess that answers my question.
Then there’s the slogan I heard for one of the lotteries. It says, “You can’t win if you don’t play.” I see the logic here, but a more accurate while less enticing slogan should be, “You probably won’t win, even if you do play.”
Yet, lotteries remain extremely popular. I think it’s because they dispense hope and fuel daydreams for a relatively small cost. Tickets are available everywhere, so you don’t have to visit a casino to gamble. And, with a stretch of the imagination, the player can feel as if he or she is underwriting the educational system since that is often the stated philanthropy of the monies which are left after Mr. Winner takes his share to the bank.
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