reeeeee

[Breakbeat]

lottery has always been a tax on stupid people, don't fall for it, don't support it

People that say this think they're so smart. Oh, I'd never gamble because gambling is a "tax on the stupid." When, in reality you've simply heard someone else say this, and you're just repeating it because it makes you feel slick, and better than others who don't partake of the "stupid tax". You also base your silly statements on the odds of winning the biggest jackpot, yeah? 600 million to one or whatever. But I suppose you've never read all of the odds, you know, the ones where you see that winning a cash prize of any kind is 1 in 2.

A 50% chance of winning a ticket, or two bucks, plus the fun factor, is enough for me to spend $1, on occasion.

And that's one thing all of you "super smart" people that never buy lottery tickets seem to forget is the fact that it is fun. At least a fair portion of you have gambled. Whether in Vegas, at a reservation casino, or perhaps you live in a country where gambling is pretty much available anywhere. And you dropped that quarter in the slot or put down that dollar on the table because it's fun. Not because you are insistent that you'll hit the 1-in-13 million jackpot.

So, you want to still go with the "lottery is a tax on stupid people," line of reasoning? Fine, someone step up, and we'll go over your finances and pick out the "taxes on stupid people". Brand-name medicine, extended warranty plans, seven-dollar-coffee, high-octane gas for your Toyota Corolla... these are stupid taxes. Not a $1 ticket that gives you a moment of pleasure, and the possibility, no matter how remote, that you might win something. Try winning $2 from your extended warranty plan or $5 from your triple-the-generic-price acetaminophen. I'll bet at least half of you have Advil in your medicine cabinets when only "stupid people" buy brand-name medicine and the smart folks have generic Ibuprofen in there. Does that bottle of Advil drip money out of the bottom? Does your seven-dollar coffee that cost $0.18 to make have a secret $20 on the bottom when you finish?

Stupid tax... get off your high horse. None of you claiming this are without "stupid, frivolous" things in your life that you paid for. Not one.

Side note: I find it funny that I come into the housing forums, daily, expecting to read about housing, and it never fails that I come up with some ridiculous behavior every time. It can never be about housing, can it? The anger controls some. It's always gotta be about how people suck, SE sucks, everything is so terrible, everything needs to change, everyone besides the poster themselves is inept, etc., etc. Ain't you folks never dealt with anything serious enough in life to put these silly things into perspective? Or is not easily owning a FFXIV house the major disruption in your lives right now?

If that's true, y'all should consider yourselves lucky you've never had to deal with anything more real than that. Honestly, throw a party right now and enjoy it. Because life is going to throw things at you that make this silly housing frustration seem like the best day you've ever had. There will be days where you don't log in at all, weeks even, such as when you need to be by someone else's bedside when they're weak. Or drive them to their next radiation treatment. Days where you won't even care if your account is active or not.

To conceive of a situation beyond what's on your gaming screen, and adjust behavior accordingly is far beyond the capability of many, I suppose.

But yeah, "stupid tax," definitely don't do that because har-de-har I'm smart and you're stupid. That's definitely the way forward.

/rollmyeyes