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Luck & Serendipity

Durhamghostwhisperer

Junior Acolyte
Joined
Aug 10, 2001
Messages
87
My work mate must be a unlucky traveller. I have worked with him for 6 years and in that time he has only been a way on holiday twice.
The first time him and his family went to a holiday park for a few days first time he had every taking his daughters away so they were all looking forward to it. The day before he went he said that he felt as though he was coming down with something.
When he returned he said it was a misserable holiday as all the family came down with flu and they had to get the doctor for his youngest. Anyway they had not been away since so they arranged to go and see some relatives this weekend. They were all looking forward to it, BUT on thursday he was wiring in some lights when he fell of the ladder and has broken awrist and chipped a bone in his elbow.
 
On a similar theme, my husband's friend lives in Malaysia with his family, but when he comes to the UK on leave, the weather is ALWAYS crappy.

And my dad used to work with a man who always went on holiday in the UK, but whenever he went (at varying times of the year), he always had good weather.

Carole
 
Well Timed Luck

Here's a quick story for you:

Friday nite, 30 November 2001, I was walking home and was worrying about money, and that fact that it was a week to payday, and I was flat broke.

As I walked feeling very sorry for myself, I happened to kick, what I thought was a large clump of soil from the adjacent roadworks. It turned out to be a leather camera case, that someone had been using as a purse.

My initial reaction was 'Woohoo!! Money problem solved!!', but after a few seconds, and a quick glance through one of the pockets, I realised that half of someones life was in it, there were countless bank cards, student cards, railcards, keys, photos. I couldn't keep it as someone would seriously miss all the stuff in it.

I decided that I'd hand it in to the police station on my way home, so I stuffed it in my jacket and carried on. About 10 minutes later I saw a couple of girls ahead of me, one seemed to be encouraging the other to do something. As I approached, one of them asked if I seen a purse. I produced the one from my jacket, and handed it to her. She was so relieved that she couldn't stop thanking me for being so honest. As we were about to part company she handed me a £10er. I said I couldn't take it due to the fact that I'd only given her back what was hers, but she insisted, and after a while I relented and took the money.

Now this may seem like a useless story, but my point is, that at the exact moment I was complaining to myself about money, it arrived. It couldn't have been more welcome.

Has this happened to anyone else? Have you been depserate for something, or needed help, and a coincidence occurs that drops exactly what you need straight in your lap?
 
If that happened to me I'd now be a rich man...

Az
 
Re: Well Timed Luck

The Beast said:
Have you been desperate for something, or needed help, and a coincidence occurs that drops exactly what you need straight in your lap?

That would be telling. After all serendipitous luck only seems to function as so long as you don't actually acknowledge it's presence. So Nyah! :p

Niles ":):D:madeyes:" Calder
 
No, but I have experienced the "Oh! It just can't get any worse.." and then it does phenomenon.
 
mike_legs said:
No, but I have experienced the "Oh! It just can't get any worse.." and then it does phenomenon.
Me too,Mike, me too.:(
 
I usually think, 'ah, it can't get any better than this! (hint hint)' at which point the universe goes 'you got it there, boyo, cop a load of this!' WALLOP!:(
It apparently only works in one direction.
 
That's the Second law of thermodynamics for you!

The lucky sods are the odd molecules who happen to be going against the flow.
 
This has happened to me and to people I know.

My sister once broke the glass in her precious watch, a wedding gift from her husband, and the jeweller said it'd cost a mint to fix so she sadly put it away. I didn't know this and picked up in the street a watch glass which I then pulled out of my pocket when looking for my keys. Of course Sis mentioned her broken watch and fetched it and...... yes, it fit perfectly and with a dab of superglue it serves well to this day.

When I was at school we had a fearsome sewing teacher who liked nothing better than to humiliate poor performers. We had to make some garment and I found to my horror that I hadn't enough fabric left for all the pieces I needed to cut out. By a curious coincidence another girl, Pat, had not only bought identical fabric and pattern to mine, she'd cut mistakenly cut out an extra piece, which was exactly the one I wanted! Which stroke of luck saved me from the usual public bawling-out.
 
I find that bad luck generally comes to me at a time when it's the last thing I'm expecting.Or to clarify,I worry about something which I think is likely to go wrong in a particular manner,only to find that some other aspect of the situation goes pear-shaped and the goalposts are moving in a different direction to that which I'd anticipated.Now that's a strangely mixed metaphor...:)
 
why cant that sort of thing happen to me only with nice naked lady? hmmmmmm naked lady

im always walking around thinking of naked women but lol i only rarely see one lol

cas
 
carole said:
but when he comes to the UK on leave, the weather is ALWAYS crappy.

Ha! That's not too hard to believe. I lived in Leeds for nine months and there were three nice days.:cool:
 
When we were still working, every time we went on holiday, Sue my wife would get sick. Now we are out of the rat race we can go on holiday with no sickness problems.

We've come to the rather un-scientific conclusion that while she was working, she had no time to be sick & it was only while she took a break that any illness had a chance to take hold!!!!!
 
Bad Holidays

A friend of mine decided that Ibiza was a good idea, first time he went there after three days and he and his mate had their villa robbed of EVERYTHING (money/clothes/credit cards/plane tickets etc) Had no money in the bank and had to go home as they had nothing. Spent a day walking back to Ibiza airport along a dusty track (no water/food etc) and then another day in the airport.

Decided to try again the following year with his family, has a huge row, sister in law caught in bed with 'other' brother etc. Punches flew, and the rest of his family were taken into custody by the Guardia Civil. By the end of the 10 days he wasn't talking to his family and when he got to the airport to go home the flight was delayed. He went to get some kip away from his family in another area of the airport and missed his flight. Thunderstorms ensued and he has to spend another day in the airport, finally getting the first plane back - ended up it was a plane to Manchester and he then had to get a taxi back to London.

There is much more detail to this story than I can go into here, but take it from me that anything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong.

Needless to say the 'Balearic Vibe' did nothing for him.........:cool: :D
 
Misfortune

Hi there. First post. How exciting. :)

I have a friend, who despite absolutely every attempt to avoid chaos, mayhem and misfortune finds himself embroiled in everything that could possibly go wrong.

Everything hits him in waves. He goes a few weeks without misfortune, and then lots hits him at once. A good example is this trail of awful circumstances..

His grandfather died suddenly, his parents divorced, his car broke down, his old landlord took him to court, the block of housing he lives in set on fire, and he got an infection that required a 24 hr stop in hospital while operations were deliberated.

Now, all these things are perfectly well explained. He doesn't suffer from anything out of the ordinary, just ENDLESS woes hit him. He is quite bad at managing his life, and an adorable space cadet, but really - I'm almost at the stage where I believe he needs help ridding himself of this bad luck.

Other friends joke that if Sean lost his bad luck, it might settle on someone else - and that he's a sink for misfortune, so that we can all live hassle free lives...

Does anyone know of anything similar, or have any experiences that would be of use? Poor Sean needs a break.

Persia.
 
Hello Persia. Welcome aboard - it's very nice to see some new members posting serious subjects.

There was a thread a short while ago about demons (for want of a better word) tagging along with people and causing bad luck etc. Unfortunately, being my usual helpful self, I can't remember where or when this was mentioned now but no doubt someone else will enlighten you.

Jane.
 
i saw an interview with this guy today, he claims he loves cats and he has 9 lives just like his cats. i wonder if there is any truth in it.
 
This is similar to the American guy that survived the World Trade Center and then went to Israel and survived a terrorist bombing there! If that isn't a message from the gods......
 
webfoot said:
This is similar to the American guy that survived the World Trade Center and then went to Israel and survived a terrorist bombing there! If that isn't a message from the gods......

Yes, but exactly what IS the message? That he'll be spared time and again, or that his time is almost up and eventually the gods will catch up with him?
 
The gods toy with us like cats do with mice.

If there's an afterlife, what does it matter when you die?

And if there isn't an afterlife, then life itself is pretty pointless.

How depressing. Not a good start to the day!

Perhaps the next thread will give me a laugh....
 
Luck.....what the hell is it and where can I get some?

My question involves luck. Do you believe that, like evil, luck is a force, skill or disease that either one has or hasn’t?

I personally believe that I have less than the average allocation of luck and would like to know how to top it up. I’m the sort of person who could back the only racehorse taking part in a snail race and still lose. I’m the sort of person who could neglect to load my revolver in a friendly game of Russian Roullette and still manage to blow my brains out on the first spin. It just ain’t fair!

On the other hand I know people who are luck Gods. These are the sorts of people who can buy three national lottery tickets and complain later that one of the tickets didn’t win a jackpot prize. Is this kharma or some skill they are born with?

If its kharma then I must have been George Bush senior and junior in my past two lives (yes I know they aren’t dead yet, but I can have dreams, can’t I?). Fortunately I no longer gamble and view it as a waste of time, having lost most of the family’s assets and my siblings’ respective college funds.

Someone once said you make your own luck. If so I would like the blueprints as I need to rennovate mine and possibly add a new annexe with room for a barbecue. If anyone has said plans please send them on to me, presuming they haven’t been patented by the casinos.

So what do you think of luck? Is it a force, skill, art, etc, or a purely abstract concept designed to enslave the weak-minded among you?
 
There was some research done a few years ago that showed that 'lucky' people were of a different personality than people who reted themselves as 'unlucky' the 'lucks' were outgoing and optomistic and convinced that they were 'winners'; more importantly they actively looked out for opportunities to be lucky. They would always buy raffle tickets, enter lots of competitions, talk to lots of people and so find further opportunities for 'luck' that way - for instance, if they were job-hunting, they would mention that fact to everyone they met, raising their chances of finding a job.
On the other hand, the 'unlucks' hardly ever buy raffle tickets or enter competitions, because they were convinced that that "I never win anything, anyway!"; also, they were generally loners, with few friends.So it would seem that luck is really a matter of self-belief and personality. However, I have been testing that theory for several years, and it hasn't worked out for me so far!
 
Re: Luck.....what the hell is it and where can I get some?

Crooked said:
Someone once said you make your own luck.
It's true! If you have the right kind of personality, you can make things happen.

For example, take Jeffrey Archer. (Alright, he's in prison now, so that may not seem a good example, but you can be sure he won't be signing on the dole when he comes out.) 'Bullshit baffles brains' every time.

But now the bad news... :(

...getting the right kind of personality is a matter of luck!

(It depends on your genes and your upbringing.) And by the time you're old enough to understand such things (about 35 in my case!) it's too late to change.

(The last lottery ticket I bought had not one single winnng number...!)
 
Re: Luck.....what the hell is it and where can I get some?

Crooked said:
Someone once said you make your own luck. If so I would like the blueprints as I need to rennovate mine and possibly add a new annexe with room for a barbecue. If anyone has said plans please send them on to me, presuming they haven’t been patented by the casinos.

PM me your credit card details and I'll see what I can find. No promises, but I'm feeling lucky :D

According to "Red Drawf" (British sci-fi comedy) luck is a positive virus which you can catch in the same way as you catch negative viruses such as 'flu... so maybe standing out in the rain will help?

Jane.
 
luck

Luck is a thing you get when you dont need it and never get when you do.
Luck is like the force in star wars. Positive thinking and praying to some token god will often sway luck in your favour. Luck is standing in jobbies and having a puddle nearby to wash the smelly shoe in. Luck is not living in scotland and not taking part in any government training schemes.
Crooked, when u find the blueprints for luck, remember and give me a shout.

:) dam luck
 
Luck

I am the sort of person who always gets bumped up to first class on an airplane, gets the best seat in a restaurant, hte last room in a hotel which happens to have the best view.
All my friends consider this lucky. But I also am the person who always ends up buying the defective product, the one that's recalled, the one that's missing a part and has to battle for hours with customer service to get it sorted out.
My theory is luck evens itself out.
My mother find money on the street all the time, and I'm talking twenty and fifty dollar bills. However she always has her reservations lost or mixed up. Once when she was in France she had trouble with her car, her plane and both her hotels reservations.
I was just wondering if anyone else has noticed this. Or has strange lucky/unlucky things that happen only to them?
 
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