There is a woman that walks by my house every evening looking down with a handful of scratch -off lotto tickets.
She motions a hi nonverbally and continues to walk forward, step by step ..looking down and scratching
the grey metallic squares with intent.
I’ve created my own narrative with her.
I think that she is a single mom who leaves her waitress job every evening with hope.
Hope is driven.
A thought that however irrational the idea of the scratch- off lotto tickets may be,
she is given that jolt of excitement that something might happen.
Lotto is a money making industry.
Naysayers can legitimize on its failures.
Most statistics say your more likely to be hit by lightning then win at the lotto.
But hope is a driven desire.
I’ve seen people cash their social security checks at our local acme and
slowly walk over to the register with a small paper of numbers.
Each week, they melt away their worries envisioning a pot of cash.
Oh!! what I could do if I won.
Investing in oneself is hard.
Investing in an idea to get rich quick is not.
I can’t say that I haven’t done it myself.
On occasion during holidays, I have gone to the local grocery store and purchased a 1$-5$ dollar scratch- off lotto ticket.
Once I won a free ticket and another time I won 20 bucks.
In the history of this, I have spent more then I have won, but the joy of winning is a euphoria and I get it.
I empathize with those who have nothing and want a better life and don’t know how.
I understand the thought that it’s their only chance for change towards upward financial mobility.
This relation, this need to feel that they will get rich, however unfounded it may be.
Choices and directions and playing the odds are part of the gamble.
It is logical and smart to realize that yes, you will never win so don’t play.
But hope is a driven desire.
And desire is an emotion of impulse.
My narrative thinks that one of these days the woman with the scratch -off lotto cards that walks by my house every evening will indeed win.
She can then look up and see things differently.
And believe that the world is full of possibilities.