Next Week You Will See My Picture In The Paper

I am not sure whether I am an optimist or a masochist.

I suppose that I am a little of both. I am certainly an “ist” of some kind. Only an optimist would continue to buy lottery tickets week after week, month after month, year after year for over forty years, without a significant win of some kind. I have won free tickets, $2 and the odd time $10, and once I won about seventy dollars! That was the high point of my lotto luck. I couldn’t believe that I had actually matched five numbers. Well, it was only four numbers, but the almost fifth number was a 23 and I had 24, so if it were horseshoes I would have had five numbers. Yes, I know that even though it was close it still didn’t count as a win.

So, why do I keep buying tickets? Stupidity? Insanity? Could I really be a masochist? Could I really be this stupid? Yes, yes, yes and yes. I suppose that the really sad thing is that I do believe that one day I will select the correct numbers and I will be able to do the cool and helpful things that I have been planning for years. Sure, I will admit that some of the things I plan to do are meant to fool Lady Luck into giving me a chance. I will help my family unless they have pissed me off recently, and charity, well, Louise usually looks after that. I am sure that they will benefit from her share of the booty. There might even be some strangers that will drink from the well of good fortune.

You know, now that I am thinking about it, there really isn’t that much that I personally desire. Pretty much everything I want the money for is for others. I don’t think that I will suffer, but my needs are simple and I have pretty much all that I desire now. Yes, I would get bigger and better, house, car, bicycle, vacations and I would collect all sorts of crap and not listen to the voice in my head that says “Why do you need a silver belt buckle that says Thomas Engineering?” Just because, okay head?

Maybe with the disappointment I have suffered this weekend I will stop buying tickets on a regular basis. I could be the guy that says “Well, I haven’t bought a ticket for months and as I was walking by the booth I just had a good feeling.” I hate those guys!

No, I will more than likely keep buying tickets on dreams and perhaps next week you will see my picture in the paper. If not next week, then for sure the week after…