The Luck of the Stupid

The story I’m about to share with you is ABSOLUTELY true, I’m not even changing the names to protect the innocent, while totally unbelievable I swear it is true.

First let me say this is a story of complete luck, it’s almost like a lottery story only I was 15 and couldn’t play the lottery. I would gladly trade this bit of dumb luck for the lottery today but I fear this used up my “PLEASE GOD” moment-total waste in hindsight but in the moment I think you’ll understand.

If you’ve read my blog you know all about the summer between 9th and 10th grade…if you haven’t, well you’ll have to go back and read now won’t you?

I had recently got contact lenses. Back in the 80s contacts were not cheap and they were not disposable. They were expensive and I had been warned countless times to “BE CAREFUL” and I had “BETTER NOT LOSE THEM”. Had I lost my contacts I would have faced the wrath of my father, something that no one in their right mind would ever want to do. My Dad tended to over react sometimes, ok all the time, (ask me sometime about the Moped incident) but truly, lose my contacts I was a dead man.

So it’s summer and I’m hanging with my girlfriend and some other people. We all decide it is hot enough to go to the park and go swimming. ME being the diligent, smart kid I was, get my contact lens case because when I get to the park and the stream I’m going to take my lenses out because back in the 80s according to the doctors if you swam with your contact lenses in you’d die instantly.

We arrive, I remove my contact lenses and swim with no issues…weeeeeee !!!! Oh boy we are having some fun. What? Time to go? Oh Ok, let me pop my contact lenses back in so I can see. Right lense pops in NO PROBLEM….just as I’m lifting the left lens to my eye…POOF a little tiny gust of wind, mind you the ONLY gust of wind on a completely hot sunny humid day in July. The F-You wind comes by and blows the contact lens off my finger into oblivion-or so I thought.

“Gosh Golly”! I yell, ok I made that up, I yelled some pretty foul things. My lens blew off my finger and straight into the stream. Yes the stream that is MOVING at a pretty good clip into the Metedaconk River which I’m sure in turn leads directly to the Atlantic Ocean. Panic strikes me, I bolt off the bridge I am standing on and RUN down stream and enter the waist deep water. I made every deal with God I could think off, which is why I am convinced I will never win the lottery. I used up all my “Please God” moments with this one. I know, you’re saying “NO WAY”, I’m saying “YES”-I started to scoop up bubbles as they passed me, what else was I going to do. I scooped up countless bubbles, when I was just about to give up, when I scooped up one last set of bubbles and there LOW AND BEHOLD was my contact lens, right there in my hand. The lens landed upright and appeared like a bubble on the water-what are the odds of that?

I NEVER told my father that story, even into my 40s before he passed away I never shared that story with him, I was afraid he’d still kick my ass LOL…silly what we think of over a cold Sam Adams. I raise my glass to stupid luck and the fact that I know I will never ever win the lottery.