Read Also: The Stranger Who Looked Exactly Like My Late Wife—and Showed Up for Our Daughter
6.
A guy at my old job gave me a scratch-off lottery ticket. So I’m sitting alone in my cube, and I scratch it. It’s a $10,000 winner. Now, we have the obvious situation: Do you jump up and yell that you won, and then comes the awkward part of the gifter wondering if you’re going to split it? Or do you say it wasn’t a winner and avoid the drama?
A co-worker stops by and asks if I scratched it yet. I hadn’t made up my mind on what to do, so I said no. He left. My heart is beating like crazy. Did I just win $10,000? Yeah, I’m gonna just say it wasn’t a winner next time the co-worker drops by.
I’m looking at the ticket, consumed by possibilities. I feel kind of like Gollum at this point. I turn it over to see how to redeem it… and yeah, it was a prank ticket. Good thing I saw that before he stopped by again. I would have looked like such a jerk. And I would have deserved it. The relief hit me harder than the disappointment ever could have.
