Hope and Giddiness
By fumi-tome ohta, High Desert Branch
My friend Judy and I would buy a lotto ticket whenever the mood hit us. Well, we would buy a ticket only to find out we lost. This time she bought the lotto ticket; in fact, she bought a Mega Million, Fantasy 5, and a Super Lotto Plus. Last night she texted me,
“We lost tonight.”
At 5:35 this morning, I texted her back:
Do you think it’s best that we could better spend our ‘nickels and dimes’ on other things? The economy has exploded negatively. Our apartment complex replaced all our washers and dryers for new ones. Previously, it was $1.25 to wash and $1 to dry. Now, it’s $2.25 to wash and $2.25 to dry. Last Sunday I spent $9 to do laundry. Can you imagine that! $9.00 to do laundry! Do you remember, years ago it was 50 cents to wash and 10 cents to dry? Well. At least we got something for our money. But when we spend our money on the lottery, we get nothing back. No, I take it back, from the time we buy the ticket to when the numbers are announced, we get to experience ‘hope and giddiness.’ I used to buy my lotto with a well-worn dollar bill, but now, I seek out loose change then buy my lotto ticket with old and tarnished coins. I guess I’ll continue spending my money on the lotto because I like that feeling of hope and giddiness. I know, it’s insane to throw our money away knowing full well the likelihood of winning is nil or none. But guess what, in spite of all that, when I have that just-bought lotto ticket in my hand, I have a smile on my face and in my heart and when I do, I have it all day.
I’m looking at the clock. It’s Saturday evening and it’s almost 8 o’clock. Here we go again. $1 for Hope and Giddiness; you can’t beat that to put a sparkle in anyone’s eyes.
“Hope and Giddiness” originally appeared in the
June 2023 Inkslinger, newsletter of the High Desert Branch.