Friday, March 30, 2012

Mega Millions Mojo

According to some, I have a better chance of dying from a flesh-eating bacteria than I have of winning the record Mega Millions jackpot.

I still bought a ticket.

In fact, I bought five of them. Early Wednesday evening, I stopped in the Exxon gas station across from the Ellicott City firehouse on Montgomery Road. I needed a cup of coffee before heading over to Courtney's fundraising event.

The clerk greeted me as soon as I walked in the door.

“Is the coffee fresh?”

“Very,” he responded. “I just made a pot a half hour ago.”

Perfect. As I poured a cup he mentioned something about the Mega Millions record jackpot. I thanked him for reminding me and then asked him to print out five individual tickets. When he handed me the tickets, I handed him one back.

“Good luck,” I said.

“Thank you,” he said.

I left before he could say anymore. I didn’t want him to hear him say something like that if he won he’d give me half. I didn’t want any agreements. I wanted the gesture to stand on its own merit.

Later, at the bar in the Shanty Grille I gave out three more tickets, again with no discussions of quid pro quo allowed.

It felt good. For four bucks I shared a happy moment with four different people, one a complete stranger. It was cheaper than the price of a single beer.

Of course I kept one for myself. I figure all that good mojo I spread has to count for something better than a flesh-eating bacteria.
This Mega Millions video was found by my daughter Peanut, who happens to excel at finding interesting videos on You Tube. Today at lunch I told we should start sharing her finds on Tales of Two Cities.

"We'll call it Peanuts Picks."

She seemed to like that.

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