I stopped by customer service in the grocery store today to return a box of burgers that had been subject to a recall. I suppose I could have lived on the edge and tried eating them anyways, but I really have no desire to find out how e.coli. feels.
I ended up having to wait several minutes as customer service also sells lottery tickets. And apparently Wednesday is a popular day to buy them. The women in front of me had such a complicated order that the clerk had to actually call her manager in order to figure it out.
I can understand picking up the odd scratch and win ticket or maybe even putting in a few times a year when a really big jackpot comes up. But to me, you’d have to look at the money the way I look at gambling – it’s entertainment. If I make money, fine. But if I lose it – well, I was entertained, and that’s part of the entertainment budget.
I remember sometimes buying scratch and win tickets before I was the legal age to do so and always thought it was so cool the clerk would let me. I guess they knew something I didn’t – that my chances of actually winning were pretty darned small!
I think lottery tickets can make a great gift for someone (as long as they’re not a recovering gambling addict), particularly if you’re not sure what to buy them or they really don’t need any more stuff. In this case, the tickets are a gift – so, you would have spent money on something anyways.
What I don’t get are people who lay out a fair amount of money each week – and even worse, people who count on winning the lottery as a retirement plan. I think your odds of winning the big jackpot are lower than the odds of getting hit by lightning, and most people aren’t hopping for that to happen.
I guess what I’m saying is – if you can afford to play the lottery, and you aren’t sacrificing other things for it (you know, like those pesky bills or your retirement funds), then go for it. But – know your limit, playing within it!
Do you ever play the lottery? If so, why? I’ve really only played in work pools because of that horrible fear that everyone bu you will win…
Lotteries are something that has really become popular in the past few years. In the past, playing a lottery meant actually purchasing the tickets and revisiting the lottery retailer. Now, everything can be done online with a computer.I have also started playing the lottery online, and I must say it has many benefits that make it preferable. The major benefit is that it is extremely convenient. All I have to do is to log on to the website of any lottery I want to play and purchase the tickets online. There is no hassle of rushing to buy the tickets in time or keeping them safe. Everything is computerized and free of any complication.