Every week, I send Genius two $5 scratchers in his letter. I've done this since he went off to college. I didn't send The Pony lottery tickets in college, with him being in Oklahoma, and unable to cash in the winners. Now that Genius is in Pennsylvania, he saves the winners until he deems it worthy to mail them, and I send him a check when I cash them in.
Anyhoo... now I buy The Pony a Cash4Life draw ticket every day. That's what he prefers. Because who WOULDN'T want to win cash for life? The most he's ever won is $100, once. Mostly it's nothing, or $2, $3, or $4 on the Easy Match feature. I save them until there's enough to buy The Pony a scratcher. He likes the big tickets.
A few weeks ago, The Pony had accumulated $20, so I got him a $20 multiplier scratcher. He didn't specify what he wanted. He tells me: "Dealer's choice." Meaning for me to decide. I gave it to him the day we went to the casino. He scratched it on the drive, despite Hick's sweaving. HE WON $100! Of course he was happy.
"Do you want me to buy it from you now, for cash at the casino? Or wait until we get home to cash it in, and save it?"
"No. I want two of the new $50 tickets!"
"Oh. Well. People say they don't pay as well as the old $50 ticket. I guess there are more BIG prizes on this one, and people don't win as often, or just win their money back. I haven't looked at the odds."
"I still want the new ones. You decide when and where."
Of course I didn't rush right out and buy those high-dollar tickets. Every day, I'd think about it as I was getting my own scratchers. Look at the ticket cases in my various haunts. Then one day I decided I'd get one from the Backroads Casey's. Almost a week later, I got the other one at the Liquor Store. The Pony was busy, and I didn't have time to go by to pick up his house payment check. So finally we worked out a time on Sunday for me to stop by.
The Pony scratched the Liquor Store ticket first. It was a loser. I HATE THAT! That's why I rarely buy those high-dollar tickets. Then The Pony scratched the Casey's ticket.
"WINNER! It's a 20X symbol!"
"Ooh! I love to get a symbol!"
"I saw the 20, and knew it wasn't a regular number! I'm going to finish scratching before I look at the prize."
It's a pretty ticket. The Pony is a sloppy scratcher. There's his 20X prize! $500 !!!
I'm not sure who was more thrilled! We were both squealing like schoolgirls at a boy-band concert, but stopped short of fainting.
I've still got my touch. Maybe Even Steven was guiding me. This will come in handy for The Pony's teeth bill. Not sure if I'm going to tell Genius.
What the Genius doesn't know won't hurt him! My mother would never let anyone give a gift to me or my sister unless they had a gift for each of us. I never did that with my own children, fo no other reason than I did not want to be like my mother. But, I have found that each one of my children need my attention at different times in their lives and it all works out in the end. My girls like to compare how much time, money and one on one attention they get from me. My son never begrudged things I did for his sisters, but when the time came that he needed me, his sisters would pick apart the time I spent with him as opposed to the time I spent with each of them. I would have a lot of angst, but now, I just don't care. I doubt they would appreciate a spreadsheet detailing everything I did for them!
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh! A spreadsheet! You can't divvy it up to the penny and the second. Hick's older boys were around at a different point in our lives. They get similar benefits, as do Genius and The Pony. One had a house fixed up by Hick, and bought it from us. Same as The Pony is buying his fixer-upper. That doesn't mean we're rushing to buy houses to sell the others!
DeleteIn retrospect, maybe I SHOULD make that spreadsheet! I would ask my son to keep it for my funeral and present it to his sisters. Only thing is that he wouldn't, being the peace maker of the family. He wouldn't lie and tell me he would, he would refuse.
DeleteMaybe they could "find" it while going through your things in a competition to get the "best" stuff!
DeleteWow! How neat is that? I know I'd be pretty darn excited too. Yay!
ReplyDeleteWe're lucky that nobody called the police for a peace disturbance!
DeleteSo, 20X what?
ReplyDeleteIt's in the second picture. 20X the prize of $25. Making it a $500 winner.
DeleteThanks. These may be banned in our state. Not sure. But, I have never seen or heard of them.
DeleteMissouri has only had a $50 ticket for a couple of years. Texas had one longer. Not sure about other states. I used to watch YouTube videos with people who scratched the big ones.
DeleteThere were new scratch tickets in the cabinet when I was at the lotto counter yesterday and they had a multiplier symbol! We've never had those. So I thought of you and bought one, they are $5 each. Walked home all excited, scratched it off and tore it up to throw away. Big fat zero again. Ho hum, life goes on. I'm really pleased for The Pony though, what a great win.
ReplyDeleteNOOO! The multiplier let you down! At least you had a chance to play one, so there's that.
DeleteDISCLAIMER: The producer of this blog does not endorse the purchase of scratchers by anyone! Do so at your own risk.
Hick rarely buys scratchers. He bought two today. Both were losers. I saw them on the cutting block, and said, "What's with the two tickets here?" In case he had found them in his storage unit stuff and wanted me to cash them in.
"That's just what I wasted $10 on."
I like Hick's honesty. I try to justify my expenditures: well at least I am not at the caino. Itis only... You have a the winner's knack. Lucky son! Lucky mom.
ReplyDeleteI think Hick got tired of me yelling out my wins to him. He's not a regular scratcher. The more you play, the more you win. So he's at a disadvantage.
DeleteI win enough back to keep me playing on my weekly allowance. Rarely, I have to delve into my casino bankroll during a particularly harsh losing streak. That's the good thing about my "entertainment" budget. It's interchangeable. Hick fritters away (heh, heh) his weekly allowance on auctions, for collectible, or merchandise for his Storage Unit Store.