I've bought a lottery ticket exactly once in my life - just after I turned 18 in 1990 - because I could. I spent a dollar, didn't win, and have never bought a ticket since.

I've come to believe that the state lottery system is simply a regressive tax on people who largely cannot afford to play. And, I also get annoyed at people who stand in front of me at gas stations and convenience stores and laboriously choose their scratch-off selections, or numbers to play that night.

A couple of days ago, I was in line at a store, and an older well-dressed gentleman, probably about 75, dropped $80 on ten and twenty dollar scratch-offs. We walked out of the store at the same time, and he drove off in a newish Cadillac.

Obviously, I don't know if the car is paid for, or any other single thing about his financial standing, but he didn't really fit the profile of a typical lottery ticket purchaser.