On my way to work there is a big sign that shows how high the lottery has gotten. Lately I’ve been watching it grow larger and larger, but I just hadn’t gotten around to buying a ticket. It finally reached 155 million for last night’s drawing, and I fully intended to buy a ticket, but again, I let it slip.
This morning the sign was back down to a measly 15 million. Someone else had won big, and I had missed out. It was amazing – I felt so sure that if I had only bought a ticket, I would have been sure to win. The momentary disappointment I felt was disproportionate to my chances of actually winning anything. I guess it’s feelings like these that keep the lottery in business in the first place.