Lucky 19

I want to begin this post by saying I do not believe in luck. I do not believe in superstition. I do not believe breaking a mirror brings 7 years bad luck any more than I think 7 is a lucky number or 13 is an unlucky one. I do not believe I can toss a coin into a fountain and make a wish. I do not believe things happen simply by chance or at random. I believe in God's sovereignty. His mercy and grace do not exist as a matter of luck or happenstance.

Now that I said that, I would like to relay a funny story.

When we were getting ready to fly to Vegas our flight number was 1119. When we arrived at the airport our plane was to depart from gate A19. When we got on the plane, we found we were sitting in row 19. As the flight attendant was going over the safety instructions, we discovered the plane we were sitting in was an Airbus 319. Are you seeing the pattern here? 19! As our plane headed toward Vegas I joked to Tami that 19 must be our lucky number for the trip and I should put money on number 19 at the roulette wheel. We kind of laughed at all the 19's and sort of dismissed it. To further set up this story, you need to know we flew Frontier Airlines. Every plane in the Frontier fleet has a different animal theme. The animal is pictured on the wing tips and tail of the plane. Our plane had a fox on it. As I was contemplating all the 19's that started our trip, a thought occurred to me. There is a FOX TV station in Cincinnati. We all know the channel number, don't we? You guessed it... FOX 19. Yeah, I know it's a bit of a stretch, but it was a fun thought.

So anyway, we arrived in Vegas and we were waiting in line to check into the hotel. The line was long, so I told Tami I needed to make a trip to the restroom after our long trip. I had to walk through the casino to get to the restroom and my route took me right by a roulette table. I decided to stop and watch one spin. The little white ball spun around the wheel, bounced around the numbers and landed directly into number... (any guesses?). THAT BALL LANDED IN NUMBER 19!!!!!!!!!! I felt the breath leave my body and I think my knees may have buckled a little. I could not believe what I was looking at. I walked away from that table shaking my head. The odds for hitting a number straight up pay 35 to 1. The minimum bet is $5. Even at the minimum, I could have won $175 if I had bet money on 19. But alas, I made no such bet and you know what they say, "You can't win if you don't play". Of course I always say, "You can't lose if you don't play".

Do I regret not betting on number 19 at the roulette wheel? Not at all. It could have just as easily landed in one of the other 37 numbers on that wheel. I will never be a gambler and I am comfortable with my decision to not gamble in Vegas (or at least not much). Tami and I had a wonderful time and we didn't have to lose money in the casino to do it. We did play a few hands of 10 cent video poker, but there's a big difference between a dime bet and $5 minimum/per spin in roulette.

I will always remember the number 19 for our Vegas trip though.