Luck, Lucky, not-so-Lucky

"You can't win the lottery unless you play." So I play the lottery. Not often. And with limitations. It started about a year ago when a coworker got us at work all excited about a lottery that had reached some crazy amount like $200 million. We all went to Dave's Super Market and bought lottery tickets. We learned how to pick number or do the "random" choice. On our way to a training in Cincinnati, we talked and dreamed about what we would do with the money. If I won $200 million ($120 million after taxes) I'd give all my family members $10 million; I would give all my friends $10,000 (the most you can get with out being taxed in a single gift); I would set up a fund for all my family and friend's children's educations; and pay off any of my friend's houses. I would give money to all those charities that have trouble with funding like arts organizations (CPT, Spaces, CIFF, SIFF); health care for the poor or working poor (Planned Parenthoods, Free Clinic, Rural healthcare, Doctors without Borders, AIDS groups); for those advocacy groups I so dearly believe in (Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU); and international groups to help foster better understandings between cultures and environmental groups too. I would start a foundation to sustain those gifts. I would buy a condo in Ballard and I think, at least for a month or two, I would still try to work because I feel too young to not. Eventually, I would want to travel, go back to school and do other things.

My rules: when the lottery is over $75 million, and when I remember, I'll buy two (only) tickets. Yes, it's $40 a year I could be investing so when I'm 90 years old it will be worth like $321.17. But to dream like that, to imagine what I could do, how I could be a positive influence, help out my friends and family - it's worth it - $40 of dreamin' - don't yah think.

I'm lucky because my driver's side door handle decided to start working again (I'm convinced, because it's happened before, when it rains too much in the winter it stops working) - and now I don't have to paid to get it fixed. I'm lucky because I swerved when someone didn't see me and nearly ran me off 15th Ave yesterday. I'm lucky to have a new friend with whom to have gone to the Carnival party. I'm lucky for a million reasons. Approximately 210 million reasons. Maybe I'll win the lottery with one of these reasons.

Not-so-lucky
Are those people in the jeep when the roadside bomb went off today or when your mosque was blown up or when you were diagnosed with cancer, or your husband was; those people who lost their one of their two jobs, the one with health insurance; those people who can barely make ends meet but they really try hard; who decided they could drive home after being at Lava Lounge but really couldn't; who are wrongly imprisoned; there's really not enough room to write about all of them and all of us. Maybe I won't listen to the radio on my way into work tomorrow. Maybe they'll win the lottery too someday.