Lottery Tickets

[Mike]

In the late 80's as my way of protesting against the newly introduced California lottery, I bought a one dollar scratcher ticket and REFRAINED from scratching it, showing it to people I knew or met. In coffee shop situations with strangers it served as a witnessing tool or conversation starter of sorts, as well as a political statement. It reminded me of the old draft card burnings in the 60's only in reverse. I talked it up on talk radio shows here and got some intense reactions.

I quickly found out that my protest method stimulated a lot of emotions. Some laughed, some scratched ( :D-->) their heads in bewilderment, and some actually got angry! It revealed a lot to me about human nature.

Then I soon figured out that refraining from scratching these things acts as a sort of consciousness expanding exercise for the owner, me! Try it and see!

THEN I also soon noticed that since I was probably the only one doing such a crazy thing, what I had was a very rare piece of paper with the wax intact. Being an old philatelist from way back, it reminded me of uncanceled postage stamps. I had discovered a new kind of collectable!

About 5 years later I saw a Parade Magazine article of a man in Texas who had invested $60,000 in unscratched lottery tickets! There are now websites where collectors buy, sell, and trade unscratched lottery tickets. Lotology, as they call it, goes back to the 1800's! Maybe, I didn't discover unscratched tickets after all, but it was fun pioneering it in a way. I have about ten of them in my collection.

Nowadays I incorporate the idea into a comedy routine I do at coffee shop "open mic" nights.

Edited February 25, 2005 by Mike

[excathedra]

i thought the only comedy you did was here, mic, er, mike

;)--> ;)--> ;)--> ;)--> ;)--> ;)--> ;)--> ;)--> ;)--> ;)--> ;)-->

ps. i think that's cool :)-->

[Mike]

Hi Exy,

I was wondering what kind of reception I'd get here. It's nice to talk with you again. :)-->

I've found that comedy is very useful in all kinds of tense situations. Didn't Pressed Down sing about a merry heart being like medicine, or something like that? Isn't it a Bible verse somewhere, or like one?

[Mike]

outandabout,

If you still have that audio cassette I gave you about 8 years ago called "Modern Comedy" it has several Talk Radio calls on the second half of side A dealing with unscratched lottery tickets.

[Cindy!]

We have a "mega committee" at school where anyone who wants can put in a dollar and our police liason buys the tix when he takes his little one to school. I usually pitch in a dollar because it's fun and BECAUSE I CAN!

I don't count on winning the jackpot at all, but like the comraderie amongst the staff of speculations on "what would we do with the money?"

However...the stock market...that Steve! and I take seriously!!!

[outandabout]

Mike, I looked for that because you asked for it once before and I don't know what happend to it. I have boxes of tapes and I'll look again. I'm sorry I haven't been able to find it.

[excathedra]

you have to be in it, it to win it

thus saith someone ;)-->

[Mike]

outandabout,

Don't worry about the tape. That one time I asked you about it years ago was NOT a request to get it back.

It was just an inquiry if you had HEARD it. :)-->

I have copies, and have also transferred it to CD now. I just wanted to know if you got a laugh from it! :D-->

[GeorgeStGeorge]

On one of Ezra Charles and the Works CD's there's a wonderful song about the lottery. My favorite line is "If I had a dollar for every ticket stub, I'd be a millionaire!"

George