I have never been a fan of placing bets. As a kid, I was always scared of losing money (or whatever else was valuable), and fear of throwing away my personal goods just to avoid looking sheepish didn't make sense. I treasured money, even a little, and even if the bet looked fail-proof, I was either wary of some unknown entity changing my fortune in an unexpected rush of disaster, or the altruistic heart in me would invoke pleas of empathy for my much too undereducated counterpart. I couldn't just stand there and let fate (or some cleverly crafted scheme) determine where my goods ended up, even if I thought for certain I knew the outcome.
The most famous of the many bets I didn't take was the summer after my freshman year of college, when I was confronted with what seemed to be a certainty in the world of country music. We were listening to the radio when a commercial came on highlighting a concert that was coming up during the National High School Finals Rodeo, which were held in my home town. A male voice was singing a country tune, and the announcer said something to the effect of "Terry Clark! Come see Terry Clark in concert ....." Then later a woman's singing voice came on in a new song and the announcer said, "... and special guest, Dani Hoover."
Now I had absolutely no idea who either of these people were, and neither did the college guys I was working with, but it seemed completely obvious that the male singing voice who opened the commercial was the first name mentioned: Terry. The second person, as unique as the name Dani is for a female, definitely lined up with the female voice at the end of the commercial.
But for some reason during the day, we started talking about the plausibility of a man being named Terry and a woman named Dani, and one of the guys I worked with decided he thought it would be cooler to start calling the female's voice "Terri" and the male's voice "Danny." Well I started ribbing him about this because of the order on the radio commercial, and we had a silly argument going for the rest of the day.
He finally got so fed up he said, "Well, if that's what you think, then bet me $100."
One hundred dollars was a lot to me then (and still is), so even with frequent appeals I wouldn't give in. I was dead dead certain that I had enough on my side to with one bet be $100 richer, but a lingering sliver of doubt and a love for things that are mine made me hold off.
Several days later, by mere accident, we found out the results. Terri Clark is in fact a woman. Woops.
What does it take for you to take a bet?
7 comments:
i like to make bets for about a quarter or two - just in case i'm totally wrong - but only follow through when i win.
that's another side of the equation: do you think the person you are betting will actually pay if they lose?
Once I bet a quarter in a slot machine, I lost.
Growing up, my parents were VERY anti-gambling of any kind, so no bets for me. Even though they (and I) have loosened up some, I still don't ever bet for money. I enjoy a good wager of a large amount of money that no one ever has to follow through on. I guess we're really just gambling for bragging rights.
We would make bets for 20 cent cokes. And yes when I was a kid you could get a 20 cent coke at the drug store. Betting is not something that I like to do. It's just as easy to lose as it is to win and I don't like to be a loser. I don't mind betting if it involves the loser doing an action instead of costing them money.
i bet all the time. i'm gambling right now. dang i lost.
Well chandster, Life is a gamble. And I'm betting that your going to be one of the winners.
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