A PEARLISM—

My lady friend Ruth’s daughter Andrea gave me a lottery ticket for Christmas.

I recently scratched the assigned spaces and WON a buck!

I went to the local lottery store and traded my winnings for another ticket.

And, I WON two bucks!

I went to the local lottery store and traded my winnings for two tickets.

And—I lost.

From this I must conclude playing the lottery is not a sound investment strategy. --tw