Winning the lottery...sort of

AOG, Madrid

Once again Christmas rears its ugly head. Different countries tend to celebrate in different ways, all living out their version of the modern invention of Christmas as invented by Germany in the XIX century. 

In the case of Spain, this means the National Lottery, the largest of its kind on Earth. As befits a country obsessed with luck and money (much like this other country I know on the other side of the pond), in these times of economic hardship, many people are spending what little they have on the lottery. And the lottery is big business. 

They have just spent who knows how many millions on their latest television commercial, where you see loads of little kids leaving a private boarding school at night (in Spain, it is students from the San Ildefonso school who call out the winning numbers as they come out of the wheel and they have been doing so since the XVIII century)  and watching and catching from afar people's lottery numbers and dreams. 

They then go back to, I'm guessing, lottery central, and deposit their catch in a Burtonesque machine which drops each one into a gigantic ball. All very dream like and, obviously, pulling at the heart strings. The soundtrack is straight from Edward Scissorhands. Fantasy and escapism. 

Although according to the latest statistics, takings have lowered recently, many in Spain like to play the lottery, or lotteries which pepper the country from North to South and East to West. And on the internet. 

In fact, if you log on to the Spanish National Lottery website, it can show you where the number you would like to play is being sold. 

Yes, in case you were wondering, in Spain it is traditional for many people to play one single number year after year. 

Or perhaps they think a particular number will be lucky and they go all over the place looking for it, asking friends and family to look out for it where they live. Well, no more. Now technology comes to their aid.

At almost every office in the country, including mine, it is quite common for the entire office to pitch in and buy an entire lottery number series. 

Yes, you guessed it, the lottery in Spain is not about just winning a number, but about winning this number from that series. Furthermore, the entire series is divided up into  fracttions and theses into individual tickets called 'décimos', literally 'tenths'.

 What this means is that if you one of the 'décimos' you get a percentage of the winning number. And if you bought the entire series, you win the whole lot. 

Most people in Spain only buy one or two 'décimos' for themselves since a whole series would be too expensive for most people.

However, given that most families have more than working member (the ones with jobs) it is often the case that people are buying and swapping tickets from various lottery series, and thus, increasing their chances.

Well, lo and behold, I too am expected to participate in this age old tradition. It started on Saturday. My partner and I went for breakfast at a café near home. As we were paying, the waiter asked if we'd like to buy a lottery ticket from them. 

It seems that the number in question is quite "lucky" because it was the number a recently deceased customer of theirs had been playing continuously for the past 52 years and never once did it come up. 

"This year it is bound to come up!" the waiter told us. My partner, being an ace at mathematics, made a quick mental calculation of the amount of times that number had been played per year, times 52, and compared them to the chances of winning average. The result? "You need a further three life times at that rate for that number to come up". So no, we didn't buy a lottery ticket from them. 

But it doesn't stop there.

People at my office have started talking about buying an entire series, or half of one, or a fraction of a fraction. Or whatever. 

We went down for a coffee this morning and, too sad to talk about last night's electoral results, the big story was the national lottery. 

Only one other person is thinking of not participating, and our colleagues looked at us in dismay, but secretly hoping that we don't participate. Why? 

Well, in the past, many of these office lottery tickets tend to win big. And it happens in every office that someone did not buy a ticket. In a way, to my colleagues, if we don't buy a ticket, their chances of winning are increased. 

I already lived through this a couple of years ago. Back then it was the same scene, same dialogue, but with different characters. I didn't fall into it, but I did feel a little anxious about it. 

I mean, what if they did win and I was the only idiot in the office who didn't participate? That is a lot of pressure. Nevertheless, I think this year will be much the same as last time. 

"No thank you, I will not participate in this ritual". Silly really, since my partner will no doubt buy one for me and give it to me as a gift. 

But that is an altogether different story...

Of prayers and wishes

AOG, Madrid

The year is almost over, but the worse thing is that Christmas is almost upon us. 

The last time I was in London, the lights were up on Oxford street. 

So that's about two months of lights and decorations. The season is in full swing once again.

However, Christmas always makes me think about those people who will have to "bear" the celebrations once more. 

I am thinking about those people who will not be able to fully participate in the festivities. 

People who wish they had the money to buy all the goodies on show. 

Money to buy a little bit of happiness. Never mind money, sometimes just a job will do.

Here in Madrid, the season too has started. But in a different way. 

I once read that the great American poet, Maya Angelou, said this about luck: "If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities".

You see, one of the typical things people in Spain do this time of year, is buy a lottery ticket. It is a national custom. The Spanish, like the Americans, are obsessed with luck.

My partner buys me a ticket as a Christmas  present. I think it is kind of nice that someone gives you as a gift the opportunity to acquire a lot of money.

In Madrid's Gran Vía boulevard, there is a certain lottery vendor known as 'Doña Manolita' who acquired its fame years ago for  being a place where a few winning tickets were sold over the years.

Spain at present has Europe's biggest unemployment rate as well as the largest number of people unemployed in the developed world to the tune of 4.5 million people. 

Yesterday on the paper, as well as on television, there were stories about how long the lines were and how they crowded out other shoppers in the area. 

I walked past it this past weekend and the line was something else. More than ever, the Spanish need their luck to change. Or, barring that, just extra cash will do quite nicely, thank you. Can we blame them?

It is easy to see that in time of despair, some of us detach our thoughts from our mundane lives and throw ourselves into the arms of fortune in the hope that, as Angelou wrote, a single fantasy will change one million realities. 

We all want change, though we all fear it. Of course, the change we like is the change we can control. The change we work for and expect as the fruit of our toil and labor. 

Yet I remember the eternal Chinese caveat: "Be careful what you wish for, it just might happen". 

And lets not forget the great Spanish mystic, St. Teresa of Avila, who wrote: "More tears are shed over answered prayers than  unanswered ones". 

So, as per usual, we have something to fear from the unknown and we are warned, in both Chinese and Western cultures, not to want to change things too much. Not to ask for much. 

Not to desire much, just in case. Just in case we get it. 

And then what? Perhaps it is more about not wanting too much, and using fear to try and make us happier because, more than likely, our prayers won't be answered, and our wishes won't be granted. 

Yet, even though this might be the case, we choose to envelop a little bit of knowledge, or mundane philosophy if you like, in  transcendental ideas. 

Is it that the Earthly world is just too real for us to cope with it fully?
I don't know. 

All I know is that the year is coming to an end.

That 2010 will eventually be forgotten, for better or for worse. That I will pray and wish for change, and that nothing out of the ordinary will happen. 

I will not wake up a millionaire from just wishful thinking. 

Or from buying a lottery ticket. 

Of course, I might just buy the winning number. 

One never knows!

That is why we call it a game of chance. 

The online dictionary defines the word thus: "The unknown and unpredictable element in happenings that seems to have no assignable cause."

No assignable cause. 

Much like what is done when one prays. When one makes a wish.

Christmas and Doña Manolita

AOG, Madrid

Christmas is coming and Spain is in full swing. From my office window in Gran Via, I see the shops with their lights blinking, the people to-ing and fro-ing getting gifts for loved ones and making strolling a bit of a hazard.

As in the UK, I see here and there homeless people who no one seems to care about. No time for them.

On Gran Via, at number 31 since 1931, there stands one of Spain’s institutions: Doña Manolita’s, a lottery vending shop famous for having been the source of many of the winning tickets for Spain’s Christmas lottery, the largest on Earth. The other being the shop known as La Bruixa d'Or, or the Golden Witch, located, mysteriously, in the town of Sort (which means luck in Catalan), in Catalonia. People from all over Spain travel to Sort to buy a lottery ticket.

These places mystify the Spanish imagination. Here is a country where everyone wants to be wealthier than what they are. I suppose like everywhere else, only here, it seems to be more institutionalised than in other places.

From my window, I can see the long lines of hopeful buyers which stretch around the corner. Dozens of people who want to buy a lottery ticket.

Aside from the people in line, there are musicians who make the long wait a bit more agreeable. Aside from them, there are also a few homeless people and beggars who most people seem to ignore. It is odd watching people from all walks of life, wearing anything from sporty clothing to fur coats, all lining up to increase their wealth, and ignoring their fellow human beings begging.

Having said this, I don’t want to accuse anyone of having a hard heart. It is perhaps that in Spain, scams are all too frequent, and most Spanish people see only people who are trying to scam them, and not a social necessity. It is also true than, in Spain, people expect their Government to deal with things like beggars on the street, and that it, somehow, has nothing to do with them.

It is also true that many people in Spain give generously to charities and NGOs.

Nonetheless, I see these people lining up in the cold Madrid mountain air, hoping they win a few thousand euros this Christmas, and wonder why they appear to ignore the beggars. The homeless.