luck revisited

A while back I wrote on luck, and how there are some people out there who just win things, like drawings and lotteries. I am not one of those people who win things. I just sit next to people who do. Like a couple of weeks ago at a black tie event, when I sat next to a very nice young man who won the danged plasma TV they were hawking tickets for. I bought a ticket, too, but I didn't win the TV. He did.

Of course he did.

So I always feel near luck, if not exactly lucky myself. Except that I've had to revisit that thought in the past month, because I keep finding money. And not just the odd dime or nickel lying around on the ground, either. I mean money.

First I found a Nordstrom's gift card lying in the parking lot. Those things are like cash. They look like credit cards, but there's no name attached to it; they can't possibly be returned to an owner.

I felt a bit guilty about picking it up....after all, the thing does look just like a credit card. There was a little number you could call on the back to check on your balance.

There was $60 left on it.

Woohoo! A personal shopping day at Nordies!

Then, when I happened to be at the said department store using my serendipitous gift, I turned around and found a huge wad--I mean a wad--of bills just lying there on the ground next to me.

Being me, and being naturally filled with moral anxiety and guilt about any good luck that might come my way, I immediately began shouting, "Hey! Who left this large stack of bills here?!!!"

Sigh. I should have kept my mouth shut.

But I didn't. No one claimed the bills, but I thought it was very possible someone might miss them and come back to the cashier to see if they'd possibly been left by accident. Anyway, I hope they did, because that little salesperson snatched up those bills so fast my head spun.

I was suspicious, of course.

"So what do you do with the money if no one claims it?" I asked.

"Oh, we donate it," she said, smiling sweetly.

Yeah, I'll bet.

Grrrrr.