Observer Online | Viewpoints

Posted Oct. 12, 2007

Lucky is as Lucky Does

I got an interesting comment this week from a reader, who remained anonymous, about the $500,000 in lottery winnings collected by Herndon resident Cornelius Van Houtryve last week.

Mr. Van Houtryve played the Virginia Lottery with a scratcher ticket he bought in Sterling and won the top prize. His winning follows the good fortune of Vytautas "Vyto" Karalius, a Herndon man who won $1,000 a week for life from the Virginia Lottery in June.

After we ran a story last week about Mr. Van Houtryve, the reader sent an e-mail saying that by writing the story we're promoting the notion that people should play the lottery and hope for big winnings instead of working hard. The writer said it was unfair that some people work all their lives to get ahead, and other people win the lottery instead.

This point of view is odd. Some people argue that the lottery takes advantage of the people who can least afford it through the promise of big winnings, others argue that the lottery is essentially state-sponsored gambling and is not good for society.

Young or old, there can be no doubt that the winners of the lottery are lucky people. But whether a person becomes wealthy by birthright, wealthy through hard work or wealthy by luck, it is still up to each individual to determine how he or she will live his or her life.

Some people worth millions do more to improve the world each day than others. Some people worth nothing are among the finest examples of human behavior you can find. It's not the money that defines anyone, it's a person's attitude.