A Tax on the Poor.. and Stupid

Okay.. so the Powerball lottery was at $365 million on Saturday, right? I'm not a big gambler, nor do I play the lottery all that often, but when it gets that high, it's very tempting to throw a couple bucks in.

Whatthehell..

My mom called at 11:30am Saturday morning, waking me up, and asked that I buy her a ticket. It was her birthday that day, and what a gift it would be if she hit it big, eh? She said that's the only gift she wanted. My parents are at that "donate money to charity, don't get me anything" stage when it comes to Christmas or their birthday. They have what they need. Nonetheless, I got her a picture of my sister and I when we were in San Francisco last month. A little more updated than the other one of us that she has after the Ironman in Wisconsin in 2002. That is a good one, though..

So my sister and I head out around 7pm to get some groceries and our winning tickets. We're a bit dumbfounded and at a loss, as our others, when we walk in and see the lottery machine is down. I overhear one of the Safeway workers mentioning to another customer the liquor store down the street. I've never been to that store since it's.. well, it's on the other side of the dividing line between the 'good' and the 'bad' section of my neighborhood. I figure if I go there with my sis, things won't be too bad. Of course there's a line, but those are people with their own numbers. Most of the time, it's the quick pick that wins, so that's what I go for. Besides, the guy already has a bunch printed off and is handing them out. While in line, a woman comes up to me and says, "If I give you $100, will you buy me 50 tickets and you can have 50 tickets?"

"What's the catch?" was my first thought

"Are you serious?" is what I really asked her.

"Wouldn't that be great if we won??" she replied.

I wasn't gonna argue.. so I got my numbers then took her C note and got 50 for her and 50 for me. We stepped outside and I plugged her cell number into my phone under 'Lott Amy' in case we hit it big. She was visiting from Arizona and was staying at the hotel across the street from where my sister works. My sis also noticed that she wasn't hurtin for money since she had her own driver and a Lincoln Townecar. We walked home.

So how did I do? Well, I checked that night and saw that I hit a few numbers here and there, but never enough on the same line. I did get the Powerball number 3 times, so I did win $9. Two of those came on the 50 tickets I got for free.

I figure it wasn't enough to call Amy. It should be enough to get me to/from work a couple days this week.