the man in the orange shirt.

On Saturday, after taking in a game of rugby on the absolutely gorgeous fall day, we decided we'd stop at Ubbs for a beer. It's just a small bar & restaurant, sort of hickville-ish, but a great place to pull a stool up to the bar for a cocktail. After returning from the bathroom at one point, I noticed Cory had placed a few pull tabs in front of me. He pulled his, I pulled mine. Nothing. As usual with those stupid things that cost money and take .02 seconds to pull just to see that you lose. A friend came and went, we had another beer, and soon my sister arrived to join us. Cory got a few more pull tabs. Still nothing. He said he was buying the $5 ones and pointed out that in the $5 bin everything is crossed out except the $1499 and $1200. Hmmmmm. Now the temptation was there as I thought that I could be the lucky girl of the night. I mean, I deserve to win, right!? I kept staring at the pull tab corner and asked Cory countless times if I should get $20 and buy some, as if I needed his blessing to do so. Finally I gave in to my temptation and ventured to the ATM to get $20. I mean, it's only $20. Soon I found myself in line next to (technically behind) the dude in the orange shirt. He was probably 45, maybe 50? I don't know. Anyways, I suppose that is beside the point. So, with anticipation, waiting in line, I chatted with the man. He went on to tell me how him and a buddy won $1000 or so one time. I asked what he did with the money and he said they went somewhere else and gambled some more, lost some, but each ended up with about $400. Then I joking told him that if he wins, I don't like him, laughing afterwards. He sorta gave me a weird look so I told him I was kidding. Jeez. Then he said "Believe me, if I win, you'll know." Finally he was in the front of line, threw down $60 and got his tickets. My turn. I asked the lady if I could pick my tickets. She was nice and said I could but then informed me that I'd just have to point and explain which ones I want and she'd get them. Well, that's no fun. ;) I hurried back to my seat with even more anticipation. As I'm opening my first ticket, I told Cory and Erin my standing-in-line story about Orangey across the bar. A second later, I see that man throwing his hands up and turning to his wife or girlfriend with the 80s hair, saying he got it. He got the $1499 winner. My heart sank. Bastard. Of course he won. It's like the typical rich farmer from a small town who buys ONE $100 ticket to win a car, and wins it. It's Murphy's Law (well not on his end). Soon, orange shirt man looked over at me to make sure I knew he got it. Ugh, whatever. I still had a couple left.. I could still get the $1200 winner. I looked down as I slowly opened the second line... OH MY GOD, there is a line through it!! That means I won, right?!?! I turned to Cory for the answer. My face became warm with excitement and my heart raced as I thought about how much it would make my night. How I could buy any black shoes I want since I need black shoes. How I could buy the iPhone without having to bat an eye. How I could buy Cory more Birthday gifts than I planned on. **Back to Reality** I opened the last line which revealed what I won. Five dollars. Awesome. I can buy another beer and then go home just a little poorer than I was when I arrived at the hillbilly bar. Stupid pull tabs. However, I give Mr. Orange a little credit for buying us a beer with his winnings. When I win $1499 playing pull tabs, I'll buy the unlucky dude behind me a beer too.