Lotto Fools
The issue of potential lottery fraud brought out by The Fifth Estate this week has exposed a startling fact about the Canadian population: a good chunk of it is really stupid.
Why do you buy a lottery ticket? I’ll tell you why I do. Because someone has to win the prize, so I throw my hat in the ring, just in case, knowing full well that my numbers coming up is about as likely as me winning on Canadian Idol – without entering. But it’s a game of chance and if there is a chance, why shouldn’t I be in on it? I don’t expect to ever win. But I won’t if I never play. So I toss in a few bucks and go on with my life.
Even though I don’t take the outcome very seriously I still wouldn’t trust some person behind a convenience store counter to decide whether I win or lose. How dumb are the people who hand over a ticket and then wander around the store to pick up their items before they amble back to find out whether or not they have won? If you think there’s a chance you could win millions, why would you take that kind of a risk? The OLG has a website. Lottery clubs have phone numbers. Newspapers print the winning numbers. How lazy are these people?
The Fifth Estate’s website has a collection of stories of people who almost lost millions because of store clerks and retailers who seized an opportunity to take someone’s winning ticket. People steal all sorts of things, why not a little slip of paper worth millions? I cannot believe the number of people I have heard on radio talk shows saying they never check their ticket but let the clerk do it for them.
Every time a ticket is checked, the machine spits out a little piece of paper that tells you what you won. It’s your right to see that little bit of paper. The screen also displays the win. These people need to become a lot more sceptical unless they’re in the business of keeping lawyers employed.
One of my colleagues says he has a relative who believes 6/49 is his “retirement plan” because “everybody wins eventually.” That’s a special kind of stupid and I guess that helps to explain why so many people are getting ripped off.
