Years ago, I participated in an overnight bat workshop for teachers. One of the fun activities was a raffle with 14 must-have teacher gifts. There were 15 of us. Guess who didn’t win a prize?
After that experience, I stated with much mathematical and scientific certainty that I had bad luck. This was beyond the garden variety if-I-didn’t-have-bad-luck-I’d-have-no-luck-at-all superstitious belief. I retold that story last Tuesday as I bought 25 raffle tickets for $20. At the very least, I would be donating to a worthy cause. The woman who sold me the raffle tickets assured me that my luck was about to change. I just smiled and walked away to continue networking until the drawing.
As usual, a few of the numbers called were close to one of my ticket numbers, but of course not the winning number…until it happened. After years of not winning anything, one of my numbers had been called. I proudly walked up to claim my prize of a pair of Austin Ballet tickets. The woman who’d sold me the tickets casually looked at all the marked brown envelopes, then underneath some things that were on the table, checked her clipboard, which at that point, the woman who was calling the ticket numbers briefly started helping her. I stood there with a knowing smile on my face.
The ticket caller proceeded to call another number, while two women looked for my prize. The next winner received her gift, posed for the camera with it and then the next number called was another one of my tickets. Twice in one raffle! This time, the prize was a pair of tickets to the Austin Symphony. The ticket caller boasted what a well-cultured woman I was. Cultured or not, I certainly had dubious luck since, like the first prize-containing envelope, my second prize couldn’t be found.
The women running the show were beside themselves with embarrassment. They all remembered the entire stack of envelopes and where they had been placed on the table. Slowly, one woman concluded that some of the raffle prizes had been stolen. She even indicated that she knew who the top suspect was. I picked up on the vibe and said, “The socially awkward woman, right?”
We looked around and unsurprisingly, we could not find her. Yet, she had been present. Just like the previous monthly networking events, the socially awkward woman came, ate more than her share, hoarded whatever free things that were available and apparently lifted a few things that weren’t freely available as well.
One of the event organizers readily agreed with me. She confessed that things were finally started to make sense as other things had “disappeared” at other events as well. She also assured me that I’d eventually get my prizes. The poor woman who’d sold me the tickets took down my mailing address and handed me her business card. I was in such a strange mood, neither angry nor excited. Looking back, I guess shocked at the latest result of gambling-based bad luck would be the most accurate description.
A few days later, I called them in order to give my phone number and email address. In my uncharacteristic frame of mind, I had left with only giving my name and mailing address. The woman who took down my additional information told me that they were working on getting my replacement tickets and apologized again for what had happened.
I suggested that for the next event, they should have an undercover cop to scope out the socially awkward woman and arrest her the moment she steals. The event organizer told me that for future events, someone would be assigned to be her buddy the entire time. She even indicated that she hoped the socially awkward woman would be shamed by her past actions.
I laughed and explained that one of the reasons people are socially awkward is that they are wired differently. I wished her good luck in attempting shame such a person.
Only time will tell if this new change of my luck will be for the better.