by Vicki Williams
I was already down quite a few dollars by last Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas when the kids went looking for a sports bar to watch the Colts play and I went up to my room in the Paris to follow the NASCAR race. To add insult to injury, not only did the gambling gods seriously deplete my vacation fund but the racing gods significantly decreased my driver’s championship points.
I wouldn’t have minded so much if we’d at least got a decent run for our money but the slot machines began grabbing my credits almost instantly and Jimmie wrecked out on the third lap, before the race had even got off to a good start. So, there were both were, sitting on the sidelines, watching other people play.
In the end, Jimmie limped back out on the track and came to the checkered flag in 38th place. I limped back onto the plane to Indiana and flew home in what was probably comparable to 38th position in slot machine terms.
I’m not really complaining, though, because, when put in perspective, both my mini-Las Vegas vacation and Jimmie’s race were a lot like life itself. When I was young and out running around, one of our favorite sayings (I believe it was the punch line of a joke long forgotten) was, “Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you.”
The bear didn’t actually get me very badly in Las Vegas because if you go there expecting to win, you’re most likely destined to disappointment. If you look around at the fabulous casinos, you have to know they were built by taking money, not giving it back. Las Vegas is like any other vacation. Allot yourself what you can afford to spend and expect to spend it, just as you would if you went to Disney World.
Gaze at the mind-boggling sights around you. (This was my first time to see the Bellagio’s awesome dancing fountains and the latest incarnation of the light show of the Fremont Street experience). Eat the marvelous food (a small restaurant in the Paris has the best cream puffs!) Enjoy the company of the people you’re with as I did with my son and daughter-in-law. Feel the thrill of anticipation when you hear the machine shout “Wheel of Fortune!” and you hit the spin button, hoping for a big score.
All of that is the cake. If you go home with money in your pocket, that’s icing.
In Jimmie’s case, even with the hit he took, he was still 73 points ahead in the championship race. Every other driver in the series would have gladly traded places with him.
My mom, who is Pollyanna personified, has always preached to me about the “five good things” you should look for in your life when you’re feeling down. I’ve had to reach a little at times to find five good things, but I’ve always managed to locate them. On occasion, a scarlet cardinal on a pine bough had to serve as one of the five but there it was when I needed it.
If you’re worried about money, but your children are healthy, that’s definitely a good thing. If your child is sick but you have a caring partner or parents to support you, that’s a good thing. If you haven’t found love but you have a job you enjoy and enough income to be secure, that’s a good thing. Hardly anyone has all good things — usually the positive and negative are jumbled up together.
If you’re getting calls from bill collectors and you’re about to lose your house, you think you’d do anything to get out from underneath your worries unless a member of your family is beset by a life-threatening illness. And then you’d give whatever was required to have your financial stresses back in trade for that person’s health.
Two words I try never to say are “if only” because “if only” isn’t reality. “If only” isn’t going to bring back my lost gambling money or Jimmie’s points. “If only” isn’t going to make me suddenly slender when all my life I’ve been, oh, geez, I hate to say fat. Can we make it stocky, sturdy, even plump instead?
“If only” isn’t going to make me the heir of a rich family, and would I exchange that for my sweet little mother, even if I could? If I even think “if only” in my head, I tell myself to pull my big girl pants up and get on with life as it is.
Which days are the ones that stick in your head? Are they the ones in which you get the bear or the ones in which the bear gets you? Because you can be darn sure, you’ll have some of each, and which ones you focus on will probably determine how happy you are.
• Vicki Williams is a columnist for the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached through the newspaper at ptnews@pharostribune.com
