Infectious

My husband recently bought a lottery ticket.  This is a HUGE deal in our house.  My husband is easily one of the most negative people you will ever meet.  He's the type that will shred the silver lining to find the cloud in any situation.  His defense of his philosophy is this: "If you expect the worst, anything else is a good surprise.  Being positive only leaves you open to disappointment." He doesn't hope for good things.  He prefers to be happily surprised when they happen.  Of course, then he assumes that all his "good luck" is used up on that good thing and something terrible will happen later because of it.

Why would such a scrooge do something so hopeful as to buy  a lottery ticket?  I haven't the faintest notion.  I'm not really a big fan of the lottery, myself.  In fact, I nodded my head in agreement when my husband once declared that the lottery was really just another tax on the poor and the mathematically inept.  Apparently the triggering event for this most illogical of moves was a twenty-dollar bill in the parking lot beside my husband's truck just waiting with bated breath for my beloved to get to work.  He decided then and there that it was going to be a lucky day.  My son did well at his soccer game and a couple of other good things happened so my husband decided that if ever there was a time to buy a lottery ticket, it was now.  Strike while the iron is hot, says he.  You gotta get while the gettin's good.

I have watched in a sort of bemused wonder as my pessimistic darling jokingly declared that it didn't matter what kind of insurance was offered by his employer next year because we are about to win five million dollars from the lottery.  I snicker and shake my head while I internally roll my eyes at his foolishness.  He has already checked the website tonight and was disappointed that he wouldn't hear anything until 10:12 pm Central Standard Time.

I must admit just between you, me and the fencepost that his enthusiasm has been infectious.  Suddenly, I look around our house and notice things I'd like to have fixed like the light switch that I've always wanted in the kitchen so you could actually turn the light on without walking all the way to the other side of the dark kitchen with your hand frantically waving about in front of you hoping no five-year-olds have left any matchbox cars in your path.  We could finally get solar panels and a wind turbine and the price of gas wouldn't matter anymore because we'd have five million dollars.  I would force my husband to FINALLY go on a vacation.

Don't worry.  I've still got both feet in reality.  We are not going to win the lottery but it sure is fun to dream.  I guess my point here is that your attitude is infectious.  Don't underestimate the power to spread a little something from person to person besides swine flu (pardon me- H1N1) and strep throat.  (Thank you, by the way, whoever you were who gave me THAT little gift.) Let's all catch the dream bug tomorrow.