Life is like...

(http://www.usnews.com/topics/subjects/lottery)

Forget the Forrest Gump-ism about what life is like. Sometimes life just resembles Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." And when that happens, we have some choices. Our country faces some choices. The question is what are you, as an individual, going to do about it? That's not a political jab, or statement, or anything, but this is: I think the future of our country lies in the individual, and how each one of us chooses to act, how each one of us chooses to treat others, how we choose to live our own lives. That is all. Take it for what you will.

P.S. The story is not public domain, but I found a (.pdf) copy of it on a teacher site, accompanied by some decent questions.

P.P.S. Here is video adaptation of the story I found on YouTube.