Fate?
Do you believe in fate? Personally, I don't. My mind has always been very literal and precise, and the idea that all things happen for a reason pre-ordained just doesn't sit well with me. Now, I'll be the first to admit that odd things do happen in the world...random things that can make you think twice...but is it fate?
Such a thing happened to me recently. My sister is visiting us currently, accompanied by her boyfriend Liam. Liam and I were at a lose end the other day, both of us being attached to better halves that were themselves otherwise occupied...and missing us as much as we were missing them I'm sure, so we decided to go to the dogs (thats greyhound racing for those of you who are wondering). I'm not a gambling man, but Liam does have an interest in such things, so I agreed and we went...just the two of us...neither of us 'experts' in gambling or in dogs for that matter (and me completely clueless about the whole affair), and boy, did we prove that! Our luck, if one could call it that, was terrible. In five races, we succeeded in throwing a good chunk of our money down the tube, backing dogs that couldn't outrun a comatose snail with a good tailwind, but then...
I turned the page in the program, annoyed and somewhat bemused with the whole gambling lark, and scanned the list of runners in the next race. This is what I saw:
Trap 5: BANNER VIERI - trainer: Robert Bennett
That, and a whole lot of nonesense about the dog and the odds it was running under. Seeing that name, I made my mind up and, much to Liams uncertainty - drawn from the baffling sequence of numbers next to the dog's name that apparenly meant it hadn't been performing well lately - I insisted that we both back it, and...IT WON!!!! Tore out of the trap (I think thats what they call the starting gate thing) and left the other dogs standing.
Now, I'm sure that there are those of you out there that are saying a big 'SO WHAT?' right now, for I haven't really made myself clear. You see, I did indeed have a very good reason to back that particular dog. Those of you that know my girl Raffy, may be aware that her real name is Raphaela VIERI, and those of you that know me, know that RoBoC is a contraction of ROBERT O Connor...do you get it now? A dog that I'd never seen before, that just happened to be named after the love of my life, trained by a man I never met, yet who shared my first name, and I backed it on...well pure faith is the only way I can describe it to you. Was that fate? Was it a sign from above that Raffy and I are meant for one another? I don't know, but if it is, I am NOT complaining :D
Well, thats about all from me for now, thanks for listening.
RoBoC
(PS: Yes, we did go back to losing afterward so yes, we do suck at gambling...but we kept our shirts, thanks to my baby and thanks also, perhaps, to fate)
Such a thing happened to me recently. My sister is visiting us currently, accompanied by her boyfriend Liam. Liam and I were at a lose end the other day, both of us being attached to better halves that were themselves otherwise occupied...and missing us as much as we were missing them I'm sure, so we decided to go to the dogs (thats greyhound racing for those of you who are wondering). I'm not a gambling man, but Liam does have an interest in such things, so I agreed and we went...just the two of us...neither of us 'experts' in gambling or in dogs for that matter (and me completely clueless about the whole affair), and boy, did we prove that! Our luck, if one could call it that, was terrible. In five races, we succeeded in throwing a good chunk of our money down the tube, backing dogs that couldn't outrun a comatose snail with a good tailwind, but then...
I turned the page in the program, annoyed and somewhat bemused with the whole gambling lark, and scanned the list of runners in the next race. This is what I saw:
Trap 5: BANNER VIERI - trainer: Robert Bennett
That, and a whole lot of nonesense about the dog and the odds it was running under. Seeing that name, I made my mind up and, much to Liams uncertainty - drawn from the baffling sequence of numbers next to the dog's name that apparenly meant it hadn't been performing well lately - I insisted that we both back it, and...IT WON!!!! Tore out of the trap (I think thats what they call the starting gate thing) and left the other dogs standing.
Now, I'm sure that there are those of you out there that are saying a big 'SO WHAT?' right now, for I haven't really made myself clear. You see, I did indeed have a very good reason to back that particular dog. Those of you that know my girl Raffy, may be aware that her real name is Raphaela VIERI, and those of you that know me, know that RoBoC is a contraction of ROBERT O Connor...do you get it now? A dog that I'd never seen before, that just happened to be named after the love of my life, trained by a man I never met, yet who shared my first name, and I backed it on...well pure faith is the only way I can describe it to you. Was that fate? Was it a sign from above that Raffy and I are meant for one another? I don't know, but if it is, I am NOT complaining :D
Well, thats about all from me for now, thanks for listening.
RoBoC
(PS: Yes, we did go back to losing afterward so yes, we do suck at gambling...but we kept our shirts, thanks to my baby and thanks also, perhaps, to fate)