Brian at Terrible Swift Word has an amusing take on the chutzpah of that gal who claims she bought the lottery ticket worth $162 million--but can't seem to locate it just now:

. . . .the likelihood of success was almost a small as one's chances of being struck by lightning or, well, winning the lottery. Naaah. It's only $162M. C'mon. It's not like the real winner is ever going to come forward, right? You know, just like all those other Hundreds of Million Dollar lotteries that have gone unclaimed!

. . . .even if the winner hadn't surfaced, what did she expect? The Lottery Commission is just going to say, "Oh, you lost it? Well that's understandable. We all lose things. Here's a check for $162M. Can we get you anything else?"

She claims that she lost the ticket, and that the actual winner must have found it afterwards. However, the actual winner has other tickets purchased from the same place at the same time on the same day as the winning ticket, as well as previous lottery tickets in which the same numbers were played.

I almost can't help admiring this gal in a twisted way. I mean, this scam takes cajones! She's quintessentially American, lying boldly and loudly. The more overwhelming the proof against her, the louder she gets.

Come to think of it, I also bought the winning ticket and then lost it...