You’re a Winner!

Those are words I always long to hear after I’ve bought a raffle ticket or entered a sweepstakes to win a trip to France or Italy or the Caribbean. But I never do. Except for yesterday.

It was a moment straight out of “A Christmas Story”, except it wasn’t a crate with Fragilé written on it. It was a white plastic envelope with something soft inside. I tore it open…

The cover letter informed me that I had indeed won something in a special sweepstakes for Amtrak riders who departed from one of their stations in a 75 mile radius of… Yankee Stadium. To accept the prize, I had to “agree to” a page and a half of single-space typewritten sweepstakes rules. I wondered - did I break a rule just by opening the package? But I’m not sure how I could break the rules even if I wanted to.

Because all I had won was an official Yankees polyester jersey - a $250 “value”. And I’m a Mets fan.

So the disappointment is multi-pronged: it’s polyester; it’s huge; it’s for a Yankees fan. Okay, so I love New York, and the large “NY” logo that is on the front is, in and of itself, not too shabby. But what in heaven’s name am I to do with this? Is this a foreshadowing of disappointment to come?

Or is it a sign that I am one lucky son-of-a-gun and I ought to be grateful for whatever the universe - or Amtrak and MasterCard - send my way! This shirt may make its way to eBay. Me, I’m staying hopeful…

wink, wink; nudge, nudge... say no more!

I’ve relied on that little “winky” emoticon to denote when I am teasing or being a little flip in an e-mail message. I physically caught my fingers reaching for the keys earlier today and had to stop myself. I just can’t go there… after last week’s Vice-Presidential debate, I just can’t do it any more.

Not to get too political here, but I am really worried about the state of things. If a folksy, cutesy, snarky persona is all that is needed to get elected… I don’t even know what to say.

I, as a citizen and as a Unitarian Universalist, value democracy. I prize reason and intellect. I “get” ambiguity; I know that it (whatever "it" is - the world, our little lives, the meanings we make of things…) is all full of gray areas. Yea, that may be our very creed! We don't need it boiled down to simplistic messages or cheer-leading slogans.

So to see this immensely important election grinding on and twirling itself about on winks and jumbled facts and distortions makes me want to run and hide… is this what it's really all about? Oh, and I'm not talking about the hokey-pokey, either!