I get that it's just for giggles, and also get the comparison of mining and playing the lottery.

Personally I see a slight distinction. Mining (especially in the case of solo mining) is basically the provision of services to the Bitcoin network just without a set expectation of compensation. So earning in a way?

When playing the lottery, you're contributing monetary energy, but I'm unsure if you would call it providing a labor or service. Unless you're considering the physical act of procuring the ticket as the labor...

Idk.