Lottery Numbers
I was out of the country last week for a holiday with my family, and for the first time in years I forgot to buy my usual selection of lottery tickets. I could have bought the tickets online, I suppose, but by the time I'd made it through airport security, spent the duration of the flight listening to a businessman being airsick three rows in front of me and arrived at my hotel only to discover that it had "misplaced" my reservation, I was really in no mood to negotiate Wi-Fi access with reception. Instead, I simply made a decision to forget about the whole thing and focus totally on the holiday.
Unfortunately, that was a lot easier said than done. I have played one line of the same numbers every week since the National Lottery was launched back in 1994, and my thoughts kept returning to this particular selection of six numbers as the day of the draw loomed ever closer.
What if my numbers came up whilst I was away, I wondered? How would I feel knowing that I'd missed out on several million pounds because of a simple and easily preventable oversight? Would I continue to play the lottery with renewed vigour? Or would I quit the whole thing? Did I believe, in the words of Eminem, that we all have just "one shot" and that "opportunity comes once in a lifetime"? In other words, would missing out on that particular win make me feel as if I'd missed my chance?
I ordered a bourbon and coke at the bar and reconsidered buying a ticket or two online. I decided it was the most sensible thing to do, and the only way to take my mind off the lottery for a week. But when I approached reception and asked them to activate the Wi-Fi access in my room I was informed that it wouldn't be available during my stay due to technical issues. My decision had been made for me. I would sit tight and, for the first time in my life, hope desperately that my numbers wouldn't come up.
Wanting to lose the lottery was a novel experience, and gave me the same shot of adrenaline that I usually get when wanting to win. The only difference was that this shot of adrenaline didn't cost me a penny, and I actually came away from the experience feeling elated as, one by one, my numbers didn't come up. If I didn't want to win a jackpot so much I might be tempted to want to lose more often...
Article Last Updated: 13/04/2007 13:26:02
