It’s time for another compare and contrast blog post. This time, let’s compare dating to Powerball®.

This morning, I went to two different liquor stores to buy $8 worth of lottery tickets. With a $900 million Powerball® jackpot for tonight’s drawing, I can’t think of a better return on my investment! As I browsed the wine aisles before making my purchase, I started thinking about the similarities and differences between buying a lottery ticket and searching for “the one.”

Enjoy some healthy Power Veggie Soup as we fantasize about winning the lottery and the man.

Compare and Contrast Dating and Powerball:

• You have to play to win. Rating: Similar
• The cost: can be cheap ($2 per ticket and $5 for a happy hour glass of wine) or pricey ($200 for 100 tickets and $200 for dinner with a very nice bottle of wine and a movie). Rating: Similar
• Both Powerball® and online dating require “matching.”   Rating: Similar
• There are two Powerball® drawings a week (Wednesday and Saturday). There are two “best days” for reaching out to and connecting with prospective online matches – Sunday and Monday. With dating, the goal is to line something up before the weekend. Rating: Mostly Similar (despite the different specific days)
• With Powerball®, you have to match a total of 6 numbers. With seeking a mate, you’ll likely be looking for more than 6 desired traits. One list of top 10 desired traits includes honesty, communication, commitment, trustworthiness, affection, humor, confidence, independence, self-sufficience, and relateability. It would be hard to eliminate any of these.   Rating: Different
• If you win the lottery, you choose between a cash lump sum payment or an annuitized prize paid out over 29 years. With dating, you decide whether to go with an initial outlay of a romp in the hay or an annuitized long-term commitment prize paid out over 29+ years. Rating: Similar
• The chance of winning the lottery: infinitesimal. The chance of meeting your match: better than infinitesimal but still a lot of slogging. Rating: Different
• That feeling you get when you play the lottery and the feeling you get when you begin to date someone you’re excited about: hope. Rating: Similar

So if you buy a Powerball® ticket before the cut-off tonight, maximize hope and talk to that cute guy in line.

Until next week, happy dating or not dating!

XXXOOO

Nadia