Lincoln Luck

Life might be more predictable if I were the superstitious type to believe in the power of good things coming in groups of three. However, I'm not superstitious and things don't occur for me in that way. For me things come in twos or sixes or ones. And then it's really not powerful or consistent enough to believe that something good is just around the corner. The idea was told to me a few weeks ago and I've been on the lookout ever since.

When I told my best friend that I had been complimented on my legs one day and on my eyebrows the next she said, "Oooh! See? It's the power of three!"
"But it's only been two," was my mathematician's reply.
"Oh, but I can feel it! Something good is going to happen. Everything comes in three's!"
Well-- either she was wrong or I completely missed my third compliment.

A few days later I found a pile of pennies, some Lincoln side up, others the other direction-- whatever that's called. (And according to a recently-viewed chick-flick, heads up = good luck). Well, instead of picking up three, I greedily took all six hoping for a double whammie of goodness. Nope. For the next three days I was criticized by my sister whenever I bent down to pick up a nickle or dime. "That's soooo GROSS!" was her over dramatic reasoning.

So I returned to searching for pennies. At the library yesterday I saw a Lincoln penny on the bathroom floor. Happy happy! I picked it up and made my way to the sinks. Another penny: this one face down. I turned it over as a good deed for the next superstitious woman coming in for a potty break. Upon returning to my crochet group I noticed I was missing my wallet. Okay. So maybe I should have checked for a third penny in the paper towel dispenser or in another stall.

Fifteen minutes later I was back at my car, wallet found and checking my oil. It was low. Reeeaally low. So low that you know you should call your dad, but if you do you're sure to get a pep talk on checking your oil more often. A handy man across the street offered to help. He made my skin crawl and my stomach flip. I told him I could handle it. He took the stick-thingy that you check the oil level on from me anyway. After a few seconds I pointed out where the stick-thingy was stored. He then began to tell me his own car woes and that he needed gas for his car parked "just around the corner." My safety-first reaction kicked in and I politely told him I couldn't help him out.

I drove to the nearest gas station and scoped out the area. It's not the safest part of town so I felt better to see a police officer fueling up his cruiser. I parked and made the call to dad.
"Hey dad? So, I'm at the gas station and I'm wondering what kind of oil I need."
"Is it low?"
"Um, well, I was just checking it and I should probably add some."
"How low is it?"
"Well, how many quarts is it safe to add? Three?"
*sigh*

After purchasing two quarts I went to my car to fill it up. It took both of them and probably could have drunk a third. Oops. As I was getting ready to drive away a woman drove up and parked her car behind mine.

"Miss? You need to be safer than this. You should not have parked your car where it's so dark. You should have parked up front where there's more light and the security cameras can see you. There are some strange men wandering around this parking lot tonight and the police are looking for them. I waited here until you were done to make sure you were safe."

My heart was beating rapidly. Second strange instance of the evening. I thanked her and shakily returned to my car. Upon exiting the parking lot I saw the blue and red flashing lights of five police cars surrounding two men in handcuffs. I didn't think I could take a third scary instance.

I wish I had held out for a lucky penny. Any lucky penny would do fine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Dds_RodDk