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From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: Stupid people rule the world
Message-ID: <768@ttidcc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 18-Oct-85 19:17:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: ttidcc.768
Posted: Fri Oct 18 19:17:47 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 24-Oct-85 07:43:37 EDT
References: <943@loral.UUCP>
Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Organization: The Cat Factory
Lines: 38

In article <943@loral.UUCP> jlh@loral.UUCP (A Casual Observer) writes:
>Jeez, this is rediculous.  For some background, the California State
>lottery started last week, and the idea is to rub off 6 little squares
>and if the dollar amount in 3 of the squares match you win that much
>money.  Under the 6 little squares a rectangle marked 'VOID IF REMOVED'.
>So what do people do?  They remove them!  Now if you've lost already
>no sweat.  But there are so many people turning in winning tickets with
>the VOID IF REMOVED square removed that the state is now redeeming them...
>
>Maybe I'm a cruel person, but to me if you scrape off the VOID IF REMOVED
>part of your $5,000 lottery ticket, I think your face should be on the
>front of national newspapers with the headline 'IS THIS THE DUMBEST GUY
>IN THE WORLD?' ...

The stupidity is on the  part  of  the  people  who  designed  the  lottery
tickets.

The "void if removed" rectangle is part of the same rub-off area as  the  6
squares  and  covered  with  the  same  color and type of rub-off ink.  The
letters are in fine print.  Since it's at the bottom of  the  rub-off  area
it's  covered  by  your hand as you eagerly rub-off the squares to see what
you've won.  The only mention of it in the lottery instruction leaflets  is
in  the fine print section about what constitutes a valid ticket, buried in
three paragraphs of legalese.

Combine the above with a school system that has created a  population  with
between  20%  and 33% functionally illiterate and it's easy to surmise that
most people don't even know the "void if removed" rectangle is there. (But,
of  course,  that's what the lottery is supposed to fix.  The schools, that
is).

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe)
Citicorp(+)TTI                    Common Sense is what tells you that a ten
3100 Ocean Park Blvd.             pound weight falls ten times as fast as a
Santa Monica, CA  90405           one pound weight.
(213) 450-9111, ext. 2483
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