Lucky Win

The government made a pleasant profit from the lottery. Vendors made a killing. At five cents per ticket, the lottery was within reach. I kept thinking of how quickly nickels could multiply into dollars for people who could not afford to throw them away.

My sanctimoniousness was undermined when Sonia arrived one morning to announce breathlessly that she had won first prize, $130, a fortune to her. She admitted that she had bought a ten-cent ticket every Sunday since the lottery began.

After I swallowed (unchewed) my noble lectures about the evils of gambling, and after we both had congratulated her warmly, Bucher and I asked, almost in unison, “You’re going to take care of the money, aren’t you?”

“I’m going to buy a cycle,” Sonia replied proudly.

Bicycles were the common form of transportation. Alternatives were walking, donkey carts, decrepit taxis, and a relatively few private vehicles. Bicycles were treasured possessions. Good English bikes sold for the equivalent of about us$45.

Sonia lived on the other side of the river at some distance from her work, and she walked back and forth four times a day. We felt she would be making a fine investment.

When Sonia arrived for work on Monday after collecting her winnings, she had a receipt for the bicycle. She took her purchase to the police station to be licensed that afternoon, and from then on she was one of the elite.