Evening rush hour on a Monday and I need a few grocery items. The parking lot is impossible so I grab a metered spot across the street, which means a quarter will have to be found and sacrificed to Mayor Daley's latest best friends.
In my car, the twin cup-holders serve as mathematical constants. On the left, we have the bottle of water. It could be tap, mineral, or "fresh mountain", but it is impossible to reduce in value or eliminate from the automotive equation. On the right is the 1 or 2 inch-deep stash of loose coins. Their value may increase or decrease but their presence is a given.
Having parked my car, I picked up the bottle, took a swig, and replaced it to the cup-holder. Then I grabbed a quarter, plus a few other coins to use towards my purchase. Everything seemed to be in order with no variables interrupting my errand.
Another Monday. Another grocery stop. Another sleepwalk through city life at it's most mundane.
When I arrived home, the cat greeted me and demanded his usual attention and food. A pleasure. He is 16 and honestly, his time left is best represented by "X". I opened a fresh can, transferred it to a plate, and served it with a side of organic milk.
After putting away the groceries, I grabbed the water bottle and headed for the computer. And that is when the elegant equation of my evening broke down.
There, in the bottom of the bottle, sunk beneath 3 1/2 inches of water claiming to be "natural !", "alpine !", and "spring !" was a penny. A humble disc of copper that has been a prime factor in most every cash transaction ever calculated. It had fallen perfectly and silently into the approximately 1 inch-wide mouth of the bottle itself.
What are the odds ? I'm no odds-maker, but I can isolate a couple factors for the boys in Vegas.
The path my hand traveled from cup-holder to pocket.
The individual size and overall quantity of the coins themselves.
The carelessness with which I handled the coins.
That last one is a real kicker, too. Because I make my living at counting, recording, and depositing EXACT cash amounts for my company. I have done this for more than a decade and I'm good at it. Accuracy counts. Pennies are as unforgiving as hundred-dollar bills in that department and you're either on or off. No errors allowed.
So I ask you, Mr. Vegas Oddsmaker, shrewd assesor of risk and careful judge of life's variables : What are the odds that something like that could happen ? And whatever odds you give, can I double-down ?
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