Yeah, you're right OP.
I tend to think of the law of attraction as an extra kind of mechanism that guides things. If you think happy thoughts, The frequency of your thoughts tend to align your reality with things that have a similar vibration. But you can still encounter sadness.
Likewise, a person with a poverty mentality may win the lottery. Like you mentioned, they will soon again be poor. And a person who doesn't have the proper interpersonal skills to select, attract, and keep a proper mate will once again be single.
Then again, maybe your post is evidence that the law of attraction DOES work. Every single time. Much to our dismay.