You have to play to win

Last night I was watching Alton Brown cook greens, thinking yeah, that looks like a good way to do that and he mentioned people in the south eat greens on New Years Day for hopes of gaining money in the new year. DOH! I had forgotten to buy tickets for that nights Mega Millions and with the jackpot up to $171 million, I got dressed and headed out to get in on the action.

I skipped the corner Petro, as well as the Warehouse, both close by but neither place ever has produced anything close to being winners. I thought about Publix but those lazy bastards usually shut their machine down early. Couldn't risk not playing. Next best bet seemed to be the Woodall's at the corner of Westgate and Westover. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot, as well as folks buying gas, plenty of lights on and you never hear about them being held up, so I went inside and waited behind an old guy who had a handfull of scratch offs he was cashing in. Another old man was over there at the bar scratching off tickets. There was a younger black guy and his friend there scratching at the bar as well.

As I waited in line, checking out all the candy and snacks available, I noticed that the people scratching tickets off seemed to be part of some strange sub-culture. They all appeared to be very different people, but here they were, hanging at the curb store, 9 o'clock on a Tuesday, scratching tickets. They hadn't taken these tickets home and brought them back, it was their entertainment for the evening.

I have never sat around the house thinking, man, it sure would be fun to go hang at Woodall's. But I guess that's why I'm not part of their group. Looking at them, I'll bet none of them were thinking, It sure would be great to leave work, and go ride my bicycle for 30 miles and work my butt off sprinting for the county line.

That's what makes the world go round though, apples and oranges and all that crap.

Oh, btw, their tickets suck at Woodall's too. No one else won though, so the pot builds to $201 million for Friday night. Wonder where the lucky ticket store is???