Many years ago when the Michigan lottery hit ten million bucks, on impulse I
stopped at the local party store on a friday night and got in line... I'm
standing there with my dollar in my hand and I have lots of time to observe
the line... The fella in front of me is obviously a hard working man, worn
clothes, down at the heels, thick calloused hands, greasy nails, etc... He
has a wad of the slips you mark with a #2 pencil for the machine reader to
enter your numbers... He is talking to himself and by the time he gets to
the register he has a hundred bucks worth of numbers marked up... By the
time he gets done with the clerk he has a hundred fifty bucks worth of
numbers...
I'm next and I have to ask the clerk what the rules are for the number
sequence, he tells me, I pick out some random numbers and surrender my buck
(no, I didn't get a single number in the drawing)...
But, I got a dollars worth of entertainment, and I have thought about the
guy numerous times... It was clear from his clothes, and his speech that he
was a laborer... A hundred fifty dollars had to be a major chunk of his
weeks wages that he could ill afford to throw away... I can afford to spend
that amount any time I choose, yet I was only willing to wager a dollar...
It is true (from my observation) that the lottery, and gambling in general,
preys on the poor... Strange that our governments find that attractive when
they have to supply welfare services to those newly impoverished by
gambling...

Don't get me wrong, I am a flaming capitalist and if the guy wants to waste
his money then someone might as well take it... Still, I find it strange
that those who can afford to gamble least, gamble most...

Denny
"Harry Gordon" wrote in message
...
I have never bought a lotto ticket since they started here in Texas. So, I
know that I will never have to seriously consider that question.