The first time I remember hearing the expression was when I was a horny teenager and it was whatever you did or could do, to put you in a position to partake in some sort of sexual activity.
Now, if you don’t believe in luck, as some people don’t, it tells me a couple things about you:
1-You’ve never lived in Las Vegas
2-You wouldn’t be my first choice as a person to share a bowl with.
This might be a lengthy post when I start to think of all the things I “got lucky” with in my seventy years (and counting).
I have chronicled in this blog the three times I died and returned.
I had been held up and robbed by some kids that ended up being caught and arrested that night for killing seven people before they robbed me and threw me to the ground. The only reason I am alive today (again) is because a passing car slowed down enough to look and it scared the guys into their car and off they went.
I was relieved of my brand new 1972 Martin acoustic guitar by some thugs at O’Hare International Airport.
Three guys with knives.
Big knives.
Still, I loved that guitar so much that I actually calculated in my whirring brain the likelihood of surviving an attempt to take my ax back.
But no, I just watched them as they took off laughing.
Was I lucky or just chickenshit?
Keep in mind that, up until this time, I did have experience with people shooting guns at me, but as much love as I had for that guitar, I’d have lost that battle.
By far, the biggest stroke of luck I came was NOT the night I won eighty-eight large at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino.
It came when I met my soulmate Karen.
Talk about changing a life direction.
Some people just aren’t lucky.
I saw firsthand over the course of the five years I spent in Las Vegas, many people and couples that capitulated to the temptations of Sin City. It always seemed easy enough for me to offer advice on gambling, because I was one of the few who won more than I lost.
One of the things I love about sports competitions is the element of luck that eventually works its way in to every game.
That’s what makes betting on sports so fun for me.
I spent so many weekends sitting in the Stardust Sports Lounge, betting on every sport imaginable; football in Scotland, curling from Finland, hell, I’d bet on two falling leaves, as to which would hit the ground first, if they covered that. You name the country or sport, and the Stardust would find a way to extract your money.
But losers chase their bad luck (decisions) until they are bereft of everything.
Those people were very easy to spot on the Strip.
I’m glad there were no mirrors.
Stay well.
