Saturday, October 22, 2005

With friends like this . . .

Well, Spot’s back. Not very chipper, but back. Time to climb back on the fire truck.

On Thursday, Katie achieved a new personal low in column writing with a post entitled Megacash can be the source of megaproblems. It was all about the woes of winning the lottery. Katie is good at setting up straw men to knock down with her moral superiority, but this is the first time in Spotty’s recollection she used her friends as the negative moral exemplar:
Last weekend, my husband and I drove north with some friends. They bought a Powerball ticket at a Holiday station.
Can you even imagine having Katie, that scold, that harpy, that harridan as a friend? Sweet Jesus.

The column was all blather and platitudes about money not buying happiness, etc. & etc. Apparently those of us unaccustomed to having any money are especially at risk:
Lottery winners often have little idea how to use their new riches. They may go on buying sprees, or start to gamble big time, experts on problem gambling say.
Katie also comments:
The lottery appeals to our dubious impulse to get rich quick without working for success.
Spotty says, Katie, that the lottery is actually a good teaching metaphor for life. It teaches that blind luck: accident of birth, family circumstances, social opportunities, often has as much to do with success in life as anything else. Just “working hard” is a poor predictor of success; just ask a migrant farm worker.

Tags: doesn't play

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