By Traci Rork
Miss Informed
(3.5.09)
Dumb luck strikes us all . . . me more often than others. Dumb luck is defined as “good fortune that occurs unexpectedly” and in my experience, it generally rolls in after bad shit happens…..like losing things.
On my first trip down the Keys, I went out on a party/fishing boat in Islamorada with some friends from college and some Tequila. We got to know the captains, caught quite a few fish and took one or two shots of that lovely potion I hold partially responsible for making my fishing pole disappear into the ocean. The other party I held accountable was the shark I assumed had yanked the rod right out of my hands. It didn’t take the captain long to notice I was unarmed and exuding guilt. He asked, “Traci, where’s your rod?” To which I had no choice but to hiccup.
Defeated and embarrassed, I refused another rod and retired to watch my friends continue fishing. Obviously I was teased for about 20 or 30 minutes until dumb luck showed up to rescue me. My friend’s little sister had gotten her hook stuck on a line . . . a line which so happened to be mine!
“You may be the luckiest girl I know,” the captain said as he started to wrap the mystery line around the anchor cleat. Lots and lots of line . . . then in the crystal blue water we all watched as my stolen rod surfaced from hundreds of feet below . . . with a fish still on!
So, it wasn’t a shark, but rather a Mutton snapper with what I believe to be super-human strength. Or just a will to survive that was far greater than my grip on both a drink and the rod. Regardless, I had witnesses with whom to celebrate my dumb luck. We posed for pictures with my tangled ball of line and the snapper we named Snatcher and freed shortly thereafter. I was thankful for not having to pay for a lost fishing pole and for a story worthy of telling at re-telling at least a dozen times over dinner that night . . . and obviously still to this day.
Another story worthy of mentioning occurred while I was also in college on a school trip to Vegas. As you can imagine, alcohol was yet again one of the main reasons I lost something. Myself being the other culprit as sometimes, when I’m having fun, I forget that I have possessions. Purses, scarves, cell phones and keys all fall into this unfortunate category. On our last night in Las Vegas, we made sure to survey the entire strip, take in the light shows downtown, go in the Golden Nugget, and ride all the rides in town. Sometime during the fun, my wallet escaped me and God only knew where it was . . . and He wasn’t giving me any clues. I had no money, no credit cards, and no ID to be able to fly home (mind you this was after 9/11 and our professor was less than thrilled at my predicament).
After calling at least 13 taxi companies with no luck, I went and got a police report so I could fly home with the group and get the Hell out of sin city. I had to cancel my credit cards and make the horrifying confession that my last purchase was a bottle of champagne and cigarettes at 5 a.m. Oh the shame. I headed back to Dallas perturbed but slightly amused at the ironic “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” saying as I pictured my wallet floating in a fountain somewhere or dangling from a roller coaster.
The silver lining of this story came weeks later when I was back in Kansas on break. My mom asked, “what could the Bellagio be sending you?”
“My dignity, perhaps" . . . I thought. And sure enough, I opened the Fed Ex package and dumb luck delivered my wallet with everything intact! That's one for the record books.
Now don’t get me wrong. A lot of my jewelry, money, sunglasses, flip flops and countless sets of my keys are strewn around the world - ignored by dumb luck, and rightfully so.
How else am I going to learn about responsibility ~ right Dad?
If it were up to him I’d have a fanny pack ….but then I’d be a dork and wouldn’t have any friends to go out and get drunk and lose stuff with!
But seriously, when any kind of luck comes your way, acknowledge it, celebrate it, appreciate it and do your best to spread it around. After all, there’s no harma in good karma!
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