I was in a fairly crowded convenience store and purchased two lottery scratch off tickets. The store clerk asked me if I had any preference as to which ones. Now, to me, it doesn’t matter. I have to figure that the whole thing is randomly generated by a computer and winning is all left to chance. Not surprisingly, I found my answer setting off a powder keg of radical ideas from the other customers in the store. The crowd began spouting out a plethora of theories on how I could actually pick the winning tickets.
Years ago, a good friend said to me, “You wouldn’t look behind the door unless you’d hide behind the door”. So, I have to figure that the man who is telling me that the winning tickets are at the end of the roll so they can make their money up front is probably not a very scrupulous business man. No, this guy doesn’t trust anyone. However, I thought it was very interesting that he volunteered to share his convoluted thoughts so easily.
It gave me an idea for some questions that I’d like to start asking on a first date. Normally, I would steer clear of any sensitive topics like politics or religion and I still think that’s a good idea. But, asking about less sensitive issues like the lottery would give some good insight into the mind of the person sitting across from me at dinner. If she thinks the whole thing is a scam, she might have trust issues. Then, I could follow up by asking her what she would do if she won. I would probably get a fairly good idea of her hopes for the future, whether she is charitable or selfish. As an added bonus, I’m sure that I could tell if she is an optimist or a pessimist. If she doesn’t play the lottery, she’s probably a realist or is good at math.
I don’t mean to imply that I have stumbled across the verbal equivalent of the Rorschach test. Or, that it would be fair to use psychological evaluation tools on a first date (I try to save my ink blots for the second date). I was just surprised that this one topic got total strangers talking so openly about their beliefs and hopes for the future. It made me think about how many people spend a first date talking about favorite colors or music and miss out on an opportunity to actually get to know something real about a person.
Photo courtesy upn@sxc.hu
That’s really a good question to ask on a first date. Not only would you learn something telling about the person but it would be a fun discussion, unless she were a recovering gambling addict and then it might be a little awkward.
Yay! I’m a realist because I sure as hell ain’t good at math. I am so proud to say I’ve never purchased a lottery ticket. Ev. Ah.
No judgment, though. It’s just not workin’ for me. Have you seen those specials on TLC that document how the huge lottery winner loses all of the money in a year or less. Every time, it seems. I would *pretend* I lost all the money and then invest at least 80% of it in bonds (because they’re safe) and then slowly siphon the remaining 20%
I’d make sure to spend $500 or less each month (in addition to our regular expenses) so as not to alert anyone to my riches and then I’d live happily ever after.
The end.
Jen, It would be good to find out, right away, that your date had a gambling addiction. You know, BEFORE you loan them money
Cardiogirl, I thought you said you were bad at math. It sounds like you have a good plan or trust issues
But you’re right, many of the lottery winners end up giving away all of their winnings to friends and family.
Cardiogirl, this sounds like a total Catch-22: the only people who could really benefit from winning the lottery are too smart to play! That said, those people you see on television who end up in bankruptcy after winning the lottery often haven’t actually lost all of their money. Many get annual payoffs over a 20-year period and get into deep debt the first year or two because they’re able to get outrageous amounts of financing based on their future payments but are in no position to actually make regular payments on those debts. A little patience would solve the whole thing, but even when they’ve mucked it all up, if they’ve gone with the annual distribution it rights itself within a couple of years. It’s only the one-time payment that’s really dangerous.