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…