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Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Luck of the Irish

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Naperville’s upcoming St. Patrick’s Day celebrations have me thinking about the concept of Luck, Irish or otherwise, good versus bad. Lou Gehrig’s famous quote about being the “luckiest man on the face of the Earth,” in spite of his deadly diagnosis begs the question of how we think of, and appreciate, luck in all its forms.

For instance, if you’re reading this, you are among the lucky 87% of the literate world population. And if you’re reading this from your home in Naperville, then consider yourself very lucky indeed – according to numerous polls and magazines, Naperville is consistently on the Top Ten Lists of Best Places to Live.

But is that random luck? People work hard and pay their taxes for the privilege of living in Naperville. Reading is not innate; it’s learned. So is the illiterate man, toiling for his meager existence in a Third World country unlucky? What if he’s happy with his lot?

In 2002, I was on an assignment in Calcutta heading to a meeting at the US Consulate Office. My mode of transportation was a rickshaw. I didn’t even know those things still existed! It was about 100 degrees in the shade and the “driver” couldn’t have weighed more than 120 pounds. After reaching my destination I paid him, and judging from his reaction, tipped him more than he had ever been tipped before. I asked him if he had any career changes in mind for the future. He smiled, thanked me and said, “Not in this lifetime…maybe in the next.”

So maybe luck is when rigorous preparation meets random opportunity.

While flying a “routine training hop” in 1987, our Sikorsky SH-3H helicopter experienced a catastrophic transmission failure. We executed an auto-rotation, which resulted in massive damage to the helo, but our three-man crew walked away unscathed. Hours of simulating that mechanical failure had prepared us for falling out of the sky like a Coke machine. But we were lucky in that we were 1,200’ over an Army Base and not operating off our carrier at sea.

I’m writing this column from a Florida resort, with my feet in the sand and a cold beer in my hand, looking out over the ocean. Someone just played Dean Martin’s song, “How Lucky Can One Man Be?”

You tell me….

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P. Araya
P. Araya
Pablo Araya grew up in Naperville and enjoys writing about his experiences in the Navy, the FBI and growing up in the best town around. Contact Pablo at boblow9913@gmail.com.
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