Is This You? Entering Contests

There are those people who are lucky, those who are talented, and those who are like me. Neither. But. Yes, a prize-winning “but.” I enter contests like I am the luckiest, most talented person on planet Earth. My thought process is that somebody has to win. Might as well be me, instead of Joe Blow from down the street. Even ole Joe wins more contests than me. That’s funny since he’s a figment of my imagination. Yes, that’s how my winning streak goes.

It shouldn’t surprise me when “THE WINNER IS” is announced, and it, again, is Joe Blow from down the street. Winning the annual basket of cookies, a free meal for two, a hundred bucks, or any number of prizes again. In my head, there’s an audible deflating of my bubble. I sigh, then start to blow that bubble back up. There’s always another contest that will certainly, finally, absolutely call my name.

I do not enter contests that ask me to pay to enter. How rude is that? It would be like me cooking my own dinner, then giving myself a check to pay after the meal. And expecting a tip too. There are too many lotteries that send out their “WIN-WIN-WIN” flyers. A lot from our neighboring country to the north. If you have to pay to enter a contest, that’s called a lottery. Not to be confused with a raffle. Now, a raffle I will happily buy tickets for. A raffle raises money for a good cause. It’s all about the cause. And here’s the story.

Every New Year’s Eve, our local volunteer firemen have a raffle. A big one. They sell tickets to raise money towards the cost of our Fourth of July fireworks and street games, which the firemen organize. It’s all very hometown. Both the Fourth of July here and the New Year’s Eve raffle are highly anticipated and enjoyed.

Over the years, as business owners, my other half and I have donated prizes, bought tickets, and even won a prize. Our luck met us with a fifth of whiskey from a local bar. The bar was a little hole in the wall that, at that time, the 80’s, was known for being quite the party spot. Even though we had occasion to have a toddy occasionally, we hadn’t imbibed in this bar. I knew Becky, the owner, from before either of us landed in Eureka. I knew many of the people who enjoyed the doings at the bar, but my other half was older and didn’t. The thing was, someone, he or I, had to go to the bar to collect our winning fifth.  

A few weeks into the new year, we were in town, the bar was open, and I had my little winning tag, and I mentioned we could zip in and get the bottle. He wasn’t in favor of that. He decided he would go in and pick it up. He felt out of his element for sure. Not that he was a prude, he was just out of his element. He grimaced and walked in while I waited in the truck. I don’t know what happened in there that afternoon, but he actually came out with a smile on his face. I’ll tell you what, though, I know he thought his picture would be on the front page of our local little newspaper, with a headline, “Mr. Machacek seen leaving local watering hole bar carrying a fifth of whiskey…” 

It was a few years before I got up the courage to buy tickets again. That bottle of whiskey sat in our house for many years. I finally gave it to a guy named Scooter, who owned another bar in town. I told him to add it to their inventory. Ah, the circle of the life of whiskey.

The thing is that we all want to be winners. The bigger the better. I want to win the huge jackpots offered in casinos. All those bells and flashing lights really work to pull my change from my pockets while walking through the slot machines. Contests are everywhere. Even being on a game show. How cool would that be? 

There was a traveling meat salesman, yes, a traveling meat salesman, who came through here once a month in the late 1990’s. He was a contest expert. He told me he won a trip to Hawaii on The Price Is Right. He even went back and won a car. A real winner. If you believed his stories. I did. Of course, I even believed Melvin when he told me about meeting Howard Hughes—in the desert—and he was in Hughes’ will. Contest Winner!

I guess life is a pretty cool contest every day. 

Trina lives in Diamond Valley, north of Eureka, Nevada. She loves to hear from readers. Email her at [email protected]

Really!