A Conversation That Could Have Been Much Shorter, Had I But Known ....

As we pulled out of the gas station the other night, something in the window of the mini-mart caught Peanut's eye.

She was entranced ....

"The Lottery! Ohhhh, man, I'd just LOVE to play the Lottery!"

ME: (somewhat surprised) You would?

SHE: "Oh yeah, I 'd LOVE to. You can win like, a MILLION DOLLARS!"

ME: (to myself) I'm too tired to discuss the Lottery with a 7 - year old..... maybe she'll drop it...

SHE: " Do you have to be an adult to play the Lottery?"

ME: I believe you do, yes.

SHE: " Darn it, Darn it, DARN it! It's not fair."

ME: (to myself) Come on Sissy, are you asleep back there? How about a little change of topic?

SHE: " Well, the first thing I'm going to do when I'm 18 is play the Lottery! "

SHE: "Have you ever played the Lottery, Mommy?"

ME: No, I haven't.

SHE: "You HAVEN'T?? You have GOT to be kidding me!! Why NOT??"

ME: .....well, because your chances of winning big are like, less than one in a million .....

SHE: "What does that mean?"

ME: (to myself) ....I am sooo tired .

ME: (to Peanut) Just that your chance of winning a million dollars is so tiny, that it's really a waste of money...... it's like buying a ticket to nowhere, really.

ME: (to myself) trying to anticipate her next question..... wondering how I'm going to explain the seductive power of big money, and how people who live in poverty and can barely feed their families, sometimes spend their hard-earned money week after week, on a ticket to nowhere......

"SHE: (interrupting my train of thought)

WHAT!?!? You mean you have to PAY for Lottery tickets???

Well, I'm NEVER going to play the Lottery as long as I live!!