It's not that I begrudge anyone the daydreams that cost only a dollar. Name your fantasy. It's cheap at that price. Dream on. If you win, you could buy anything you want, do anything you want, help any number of friends, relatives and worthy causes.

But you didn't win. You knew the odds were stacked against you--something on the order of 1 in 76 million. And even buying $10 worth of tickets wouldn't improve your chances. Each ticket carried the same mind-numbing odds. So, I hope you didn't waste your money. But I wince at the knowledge that some people who could ill afford to spend that dollar or 10 had serious dreams of changing their lifestyle.