For those of you who watched the Million Dollar Neighbourhood on the OWN network, which starred our friend Preet Banerjee, you missed an interesting bit of media spectacle. The show itself was pretty straightforward, and while Preet seemed quite stern with some of the families, my opinion is that he held back a fair amount (he certainly is blunter in the conversations I have had with him (don’t get me wrong, I enjoy his honesty, and wished he was more straightforward on the show)).
On the first show of the series, Preet had a great line that I am sure he wrote himself, which resonates with me very nicely. He talked with a couple where the husband is disabled and living on a fixed disability cheque, and the couple is having a hard time. In response to this hardship, the husband felt his only recourse was to buy lottery tickets (i.e. swinging for the financial fences).
Preet’s response was classic, and hopefully, I have captured it accurately here, “If I could give you a lottery that has a guaranteed payout of $2500 a year, would you take it?”. The husband responded that he would, and Preet’s response was classic:
“STOP BUYING LOTTERY TICKETS, and you’ll have $2500 a year.”
I have ranted about Lottery Tickets and Casinos as a means of retiring early before, hence why I like the comment. Even living in Ottawa, I am more likely to be bitten by a shark than win on the Lottery. However, remember The Shark Bite Story premise is what the Lotteries (aka the Government) is banking on you buying into, so you buy more lottery tickets.
Can’t I Make Money?
The Super Bowl is (I think I have heard) the most bet on an event in the world (which is a sad statement). Betting in general on sporting events is no better than Lottery Tickets (no matter how good a prognosticator you fancy yourself). As a basketball coach, I have learned, sh*t happens, and sometimes any team can win. That is why the game is played.
Oh, and the first person who says, at least the money from the lotteries goes back into the community gets a swift kick in the butt!
These lotteries are giving people false hopes. They are such a headache especially to those who cannot resist but constantly bet.