A Dollar And A Dream

Hey – you never know! All you need is a dollar and a dream! You gotta be in it to win it! I guess you know what I’m writing about ---those huge, juicy lottery jackpots with Broadway marquee numbers that seem to suck you right in – as well as your dollar or five or ten.

OK. I know gambling is addictive. And probably foolish. What are the odds for winning the latest $340 million Powerball jackpot? One in 146,107,962? As the TV anchors are fond of saying – you’re more likely to be hit by a tornado. Or see three albino deer!

But actually winning isn’t why most of us buy those big-payoff lottery tickets. It’s the dream. It’s leaving your work-a-day life behind – even for just a few moments – and slipping into some other dimension. Ask the people in line for tickets about their dreams ---- and they’re usually modest. A new car for Mom. A better house in a better neighborhood. A cruise. Money for a favorite charity. Maybe quitting a boring job. Seldom does anyone talk about buying the Yankees and – finally – putting George Steinbrenner out to pasture. Or even buying that tropical island and the ocean-going yacht to get there.

Most of us don’t really know how to dream that big. We wouldn’t even be comfortable in that gothic castle in Scotland – shouting “Heathcliff!” as we slog through the heather on the hill. We just want a step up from our current lives. A little sparkle to sprinkle on dull normality. And $340 mil could certainly buy enough sparkle to last a little while…..

But big or little --- everyone has some kind of a dream. And hey – you never know.