Start ‘em young

I have no moral problem with gambling. I play poker for money. Not a whole lot, mind you, but money just the same. I love the horse races. Parimutuel betting is legal in Maryland and I went to the races as a kid, to Preakness as a young (and stupid) adult, and even been back a couple of times since I’ve been a certified grown-up.

I play the lottery a couple times a year – if the jackpot is high enough to justify the ridiculousness of the odds. I know, it’s silly. But a girl can dream, right?

As an advertising person in my previous life, I worked on casino business (Trump) and on more than one state lottery.

I’m in a long standing Survivor pool. I buy squares at Superbowl parties.

But.

But.

I volunteered in 4th grade today and learned that these scratch-offs were being given to all the kids in the class for St. Patrick’s Day. True, there is no real prize – just a tease. But this is like Lottery for Dummies. Learn it now and we can get you to play the scratch-off games (you have to play to win!) when you grow up. In fact, you can probably even buy some before you’re 18 – it’s not like they card you for scratch offs. They’re in vending machines, for goodness sakes!

And that doesn’t even bring up the question of why the kids will spend 1/2 day of precious education time celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.

(I know. Lighten up, Wendy.)