A Tax On The .....

Lottery tickets, I’ve heard say are a “tax on the stupid”. That comment is most unkind; certainly, they could be referred to “a tax on the hopeful” or at least “optimistic”.

Lately since I am no longer working downtown and enjoying the privileges of an exercise room, I’ve taken to trying to walk for around a half an hour per day. In an earlier blog entry I referred to the ethnic diversity present in my nieghbourhood. The saying of “hi” to those with whom I share the sidewalk continues even in the early part of the day but the young, walking for the bus, seem less inclined in the morning to toss a greeting.

To the subject at hand … several months ago I bought a few lottery tickets over the space of a number of weeks, five to be exact. The “pot”, I believe, was several million, like 15 million or 32 million or something like that – “a tax on the stupid”. The tickets were shifted from place to place, sometimes disappearing from view for weeks at a time, sometimes being used as bookmarks, sometimes just “holding down the desk”, if you know what I mean.

Walking is not my idea of a “good time”. I do not find it particularly useful for earnest thought or contemplative musing. Sometimes I need encouragement and a set task to engage in my walk. This morning I decided to take the lottery tickets to their final resting ground, the lottery terminal located in a local chain grocery store.

The long and the short of it? Of course there was NOT a “winner” among them, not even a free ticket. However, think of this:
The tickets aside from getting me on my walk:
• Provided fantasy of endless wealth for a few days
• Used for a book mark
• Allowed me to say “hi” to at least three people
• Put me in a place where I could give a hearty “thumbs up” to a passing SMART car driver, for which I was greeted with a broad grin
• Placed me in a situation where I could wave and say “hi” to a couple of old dollies sitting on the balcony of a “retirement home” past which my walk takes me – I probably, with the wave of my hand and hello, provided at least 15 minutes of chat for the ladies.

So, don’t tell me that lottery tickets are “a tax on the stupid”! It all depends on how you look at it. Looking at the short list provided, the tickets gave me some experiences that were, as they say in the VISA commercial, “priceless”. It has been said that the lens through which we view life determines how life is viewed and I’m choosing a different, less cynical lens today.