Our conversation about winning the lottery reminded me of an
argument I was privy to between two co-workers concerning the merits of buying
lottery tickets. This
happened a long time ago when I was a new hire, still wet behind the ears and learning my trade. Both of the protagonists in this
argument were seasoned company men, each with a reputation of being as tough as nails. Well, it started when one made some
offhand remark to the other, relatively inoffensive to my way of thinking, but in no time at all they were off and running. I don’t remember the arguments
themselves but in the end, as they were evenly matched opponents, they called
it a draw. Since, as they say, diamond cut diamond, they both nursed a
grudge after that.
Now that I am as old
as dirt, I don’t have a clear memory of my own stance on the argument. Being mathematically inclined, I know
that my odds of winning the lottery if I do NOT buy a ticket are . . . let’s
see . . . (calculate, cipher, scribble) . . . carry the one . . . get another
piece of scratch paper . . . Ah
yes, here we are. If I don’t buy a
ticket, my chances are a big, fat 0 of winning the lottery. And if I DO buy a ticket, my chances
are only vanishingly greater. So
all I can do is sit around and think of all the things that I can’t buy with
the vast amounts of money that I didn’t win.
Oh well, they say that money can’t buy happiness. But of course, money CAN buy you a
brand-new luxury car to go look for it.
Cheers!
Kevin
Reminder: If you are unsure about the meaning of the
idioms used in this message, please refer to "Idioms, Figures of Speech,
and Proverbs" posted in August. An alternative is to look at http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com
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