THE EASY MONEY

Ah, the lure of easy money - who can deny it? So many people enter the lottery no matter what the actual chances are of winning. Because, the odds may be 5,000,000,000 to one against you, but, hey, that's 5,000,000,000 suckers that didn't win when you do, right?

I like it when people say they're playing the lottery. Playing. Are you really playing the lottery? Is this playing to you? You've written down six numbers, you've paid an entry fee. From there on in, your involvement is negligible. This is the kind of play of the level of sports at school when you were the last picked. It seems that there's not a lot to this sport or game if the sum of your participation is "3, 6, 19, 27, 28, 43, money for my ticket."

Okay, there's something. There's a few million in the bank if you win, and the 5,000,000,000 suckers who you beat. But it's not really much playing. I can think of more playful things than the lottery. Kittens.

Go out, buy a kitten instead of entering the lottery. "I'm playing the kitten." That's got a nice ring to it.