I’m willing to go out on a limb here and declare that this wouldn’t have happened had I not been the frequent traveller I’ve grown into over the past couple of years or so, that being meeting someone who has actually won the lottery. Okay, so she didn’t win the complete jackpot – I think she said she got all but two numbers right, but clearly those are some significant winnings given the circumstances under which we met.
Now it’s nothing close to being a romantic relationship or anything of the sort – by “met” I mean that in the literal sense.
So I decided to use up my accumulated air miles all in one go because I was kind of running out of time to use those rewards. My redemption window period was rapidly approaching its expiry date so I decided not to stress too much about it and just “splash out” on a business class flight for once. Those were some miles well spent I must say since I really got to savour the experience of flying business class, given the fact that it was a long-haul flight, extended by no less than two changeovers.
So I was chilling out in the business class lounge, naturally enjoying a beer since drinks were on the house. As I finished up my beer and pondered “ordering” a second one, a rather lovely Latina lass who told me she’s from Argentina perched in the open seat next to me and passed me one of five premium beers she had in her hands, the missing one of which I assumed she’d already drunk.
She was as sober as a judge though and I guess handing me a beer was just a great way of breaking the ice and I must say it was a much better beer than the free one I’d just had.
So anyway, we got to talking and after I asked her if she “must be rich” since she looked like she was in no particular hurry to get anywhere she told me that it is indeed true, however the fact that she was flying business class was for the same reasons as me really. She wasn’t really burning through any cash, but rather redeeming some loyalty points which had accumulated.
What was most intriguing however is that she actually won the lottery – the jackpot prize money was disbursed amongst “winners” who had selected all but two of the winning set of numbers since that particular jackpot had rolled over for about seven weeks in a row.
What this experience did for me was squash some reservations about the lottery I’d previously had. I honestly thought lotteries were a bit scam and that nobody actually wins them, but now next time I check the Euromillions results at least I can do so knowing that one actually has a chance of winning. Of course this suggests that despite the reservations I’d had, I still kept playing and taking a chance. After all, you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket, right?
