Lotteries, sweepstakes and contests all have one common thread - the people who win them are delirious with glee. And the people who lose them walk away with a vague sense of unease as to why THEY were not the big winner.
Sort of an odd aside to life, we fill in entry forms, go online and click for our chance to win the big bucks or buy lotto tickets out of state or at an out of the way convenience store where no one we know is likely to see our secret, guilty pleasure.
Rationalizing our behavior by telling ourselves 'somebody wins, it might as well be me', we forget that often the people who win are not anyone we know. Sometimes, the winners have hard luck befall them because they won.
How many mega millions winners still have the bulk of their winnings a year later? Two years? Five? Ten?
It doesn't prevent us from entering because we WOULD be different! WE would be responsible and philanthropic!
Not.
Good intentions would fly right out the window without a cool headed voice reminding us of the good we would be able to do for those other people in the world who vanished the moment we found out we were the big winners.
But then again, being too philanthropic can blow through your wad of cash, too. People who are good at spinning a yarn can take your fillings right out of your eye teeth while they are talking to you and you won't notice the loss until later. They are that good at getting the money they don't have to work for.
All of that notwithstanding, we still want to win. Whether it's concert tickets or a new Yugo, we want to win it, whatever "it" is.
I wonder sometimes if that is really winning...to win something you really don't want, need or can't use.
Just random thoughts today after breakfast...
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