The Luck of The Irish

Yesterday morning I felt great when I woke up.  Feeling rested and energetic, I took Frugal Boy for a sprightly run at 6:30.  This morning, Frugal Boy was eager to repeat the antics of the day before, but my body wasn’t.  Still, I pulled myself from bed at his beckoning and went downstairs to put on my running shoes.

Shae was already down in the kitchen putting together a breakfast snack cup for our son.  She had picked up a dent and ding clearance box of Special K cereal for about 49% off.

“Huh” she said.  She had stopped opening the box and was just standing there.  I finished putting on my shoes and a bit annoyingly asked, “Huh what”.

“We won”

“What?  It’s probably just some gimmick”

“It says that we won”

I crossed the room and looked inside.

I was still highly skeptical.  We have received instant winners in the past that contain a lot of fine print and aren’t actually winners but instead are entries to be a winner.  She opened up the other dent and ding box, and there was no winning sticker inside of that one.  We put the box aside and went for our run.  It was a good run and helped to wake me up.  Shae is angling for a sub 25 minute 5k this year.  We did 1.5 miles this morning at a 9 even pace, so I feel optimistic that she will achieve her goal.

Coming back inside, we read the fine print.  I was inclined to believe it was for real when the instructions said to send the winning piece by certified mail.

The abbreviated rules on the bottom listed the odds at 1:32,500

Here’s to you dent and ding box.

Shae nor I have ever won an instant sweeps.  The only person that I know that has was my oldest brother when he was in college about 40 years ago (okay, maybe not that long).  He won a tv.

No, we aren’t going to buy a lottery ticket or alter our behavior in any way (read here for the abysmal odds on that).  Sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time.  It doesn’t make you special or right.

49% off a box of cereal.

99% off a tablet ($5.34 in postage).

Happy (early) Saint Patrick’s day!