in my family, my father is the risk-taker, the gambling man. but my mother is is the one with the luck. she has something of a reputation for it. there must be something funny with the wiring in the big probability machine in the sky, because my mother has won more lucky draws than seems humanly possible (or fair, as it were). i’m not exaggerating. you know the raffles that are the staple of every company dinner? my mother always came home with something – always. it got to the point where we used to tease her every time she left for such functions – mum, can you try to win a [insert electronic or whitegood here] this time? ours is getting kind of old..!
i, on the other hand, never won a thing in my life. by pure luck, that is. the lucky draw kind of luck. until the january of 2000.
i had been on holiday in singapore, where i got to welcome the new year (and millenium) at a house party with my best friends in traditional new year’s eve style, that is to say, with much alcohol and (subsequent) inebriated dancing. said dancing took place mainly to basement jaxx‘s remedy, courtesy of kat, who had recently purchased it. several days later, i bought a copy for myself, to remind me of that holiday. at the counter i was given a lucky draw form to fill – the prize being two passes to zouk to see basement jaxx, who were to perform there after i had returned to sydney. not wanting to waste the form, i filled it in with kat’s details, slipped it into the box and promptly forgot all about it.
a fortnight later i received an email from kat. she’d won the free passes! i had to laugh. it figures that the first time i ever won anything it would be by proxy.