I am not a fan of the scratch-game lottery. It does not provide the same amount of amusement as burning a one-dollar bill. Time it, if you doubt me. You can scratch off a card in three seconds: scritch scritch scritch, ah crap. Please play again! But a dollar bill gives you at least 17 seconds of entertainment — more, if you set off the smoke alarm. Otherwise it’s the same effect: One dollar has passed from your hand into the great chain of being, and whether it subsequently manifests itself as a Trix bar in the pocket of a state employee or acrid smoke in the kitchen, it’s all just molecules in the end. And you’re out a buck.
But! Now the lottery has decided to give you a second chance. You mail in your losing lottery tickets — at least five duds, please — and they hold another drawing to confirm that you’re not only still a loser, but now you’re out 37 cents for postage.
James Lileks, “Backfence: A second-chance column for you”, Star Tribune, 2005-02-01
March 14, 2018
QotD: Lotteries
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