Feelin' Lucky

I got this notification from US Airways the other day. It was a promotional event for Walt Disney World Vacations: Book airfare and Disney World Hotel and be entered for the chance to win an all expenses paid trip…  A person also has an “equal chance of winning” if they simply register to win via internet application, no trip required. Entries are limited to one per person per day, between April 9th and June 4th.

Ev loved his trip to Disneyland last fall. I have to say I look forward to taking him again this fall and hope that works out. So, I’m thinking, should I go for it? I’m already way behind in as much as it’s already the last week of April. I’d only have about 10 or so days to enter.

Me and contests and luck just don’t happen. I’m not a gambler. I used to date a woman from a gambling family. One time I went with them to Vegas and I spent all my time shopping, visiting friends, and going out and taking photographs—alone. The first time I ever gambled was in Tahoe in 1981. I won about $300 in about 90 minutes. I thought gambling was the greatest recreation ever invented. The second time I gambled, about 3 months after the first, I lost about $150 in about 20 minutes and felt violated—especially since I still had about 1800 miles to drive to get to my hospital assignment in Michigan. That was the last time I gambled, with money that is. Since then, I haven't so much as won back a buck from a charity raffle. I've come to know, "need not be present to win" also means "need not be present to lose."

I won’t be entering the US Airways Walt Disney World sweepstakes. History won't let me be the guy to sit and enter contests day after day. I’m sure there are armies of individuals who like nothing more than entering contests, going to casinos, and buying lottery tickets. Somehow, Lady Luck is one lady with whom I’ve just never been able to even so much as strike up a conversation when it comes to contests and gambling. Fortunately, she's thrown a bit my way in life.