What was your first reaction when you opened this page and saw the 649 Lotto Logo? Was there a little rush of adrenalin? Was there a tinge of disgust? Did a smidgen of guilt hit you? Or, was there just indifference? The logo is plastered everywhere these days and apparently the advertising is very effective. Do you remember when the only Lotto available in Canada was the Irish Sweepstakes? Those tickets were near impossible to get and only a very rare few ever played that foreign lottery. But, the foot was in the door and fast forward to today where gambling is an ever present fact of life. In fact, it is probably the only hope for release from financial pressures for the majority of people in North America. I voted on an online poll yesterday (more than 20,000 responses) and found that as a non player, I am in the small minority of Canadians (14%) who never buy lotto tickets.
I am only in modest opposition to gambling because I believe we all gamble on different things in our lives all the time. To single out a lottery is not fair. I am opposed to purchasing those tickets simply because of the odds. Do the math, and you too will find better use for those 'volunteer taxation' dollars.
A retailer friend of mine once asked me why I was always in his store but had never bought a lottery ticket. There were various 'scratch and wins' displayed under glass right in front of us, and so I said to him,"This is why" as I selected a ticket at random and gave it to him along with my $2. He scratched it and before he discovered what I had won, I had already turned around to walk out of his store. "It says try again!" he said, as I called out over my shoulder, "That's why."
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