Fuel or Finish?

Today, I realized I have finally overcome my addiction to the Toy Shoppe. While I may still play time to time, it is no longer an impulse I can't stop. Now, I can easily walk by the Toy Shoppe and have no desire to play. But, I almost always check out the arrangement of stuffed animals, how they are stacked in, and which ones look ripe for the picking, this I can't stop. I just no longer feel the need to play and try to win the ones I notice are easier to get. There is quite a science to the Toy Shoppe.

But now, I have stumbled into something completely different. Having recently turned 18, I can now buy scratch tickets. It may have been a bad idea when I first inserted money into one of those machines. I now feel like I could get addicted to this new phenomenon. Which seems strange to me, it isn't like me. I am a very mathematical person, maybe that is why I liked the Toy Shoppe. The angles, distances, and size of the stuffed animals. Scratch tickets are the complete opposite. It involves random chance, and being a mathematical person, I should realize things such as probability are against me. Yet I have purchased a few tickets.

And let me tell you, this addiction could add up much quicker than the Toy Shoppe. The Toy Shoppe was 50 cents a pop, scratch tickets are $2, $3, $5, $10, or $20 a hit. I really enjoy the excitement of the scratch, it almost negates the negative feeling of the money I have wasted.

I just am a little worried what this habit may lead to, I don't think it is a very good one. I don't want to become a compulsive gambler and waste all my money. I must admit however, today for a Christmas present to ourselves, my brother and I purchased 8 scratch tickets. We won $13 dollars, not bad, but it was $20 worth of tickets. I am not sure if this event will fuel or finish my habit. Maybe I need find a better/cheaper hobby, and one that doesn't go against mathematics.