Luck of the Irish

I am not a superstitious man. As I have mentioned in many previous posts, I am skeptic. And do not believe in invisible powers guiding my hand, choosing my path, or influencing my life in any way.

That said, I also realize that I have been wrong in the past, and it pays to err on the side of caution. My solution: A good luck charm.

I have been carrying a seven-sided 50 pence piece around with me, everyday for about 15 years. It has been my de facto lucky coin, simply by default.

Well, I recently got greedy and decided to upgrade. It has been accepted that a coin minted in the year of your birth is considered a lucky coin, and so, I decided to seek out a coin from Ireland from 1965, (Yeah, I know, I’m old.)

So, with a blind optimism, and anticipating an experiment, I scoured the ol' Interweb.

I found a swell ’65 Irish Florin, (or 2 shilling piece.) It was nice and cost me hardly anything. I ordered it and was prepared for my fortune to finally improve.

I distinctly remember it arriving in the mail. ‘Twas a bit smaller than my fifty pence piece, but it had a salmon on it, and since that is also considered a symbol of knowledge, I just KNEW that this was a good idea.

When my new acquisition arrived, I was three days into my February vacation. I decided to celebrate my impending good luck with a wee drop or two of the Paddy, (a Cork product, after all,) as any semblance of A.M. accountability wasn’t due for several days.

Here’s to optimism!

Well, that was back in February. And for the life of me, I have no idea where I left that coin. The following morning, and everyday since, I have searched this house, stem to stern, without any sign of the Florin! (At this point, I would to ask that anyone reading this, please spare me the “evils of the drink,” sermons, that is WAY too obvious.)

But since it first arrived right up until this very posting, my luck has gone from bad to worse to absolute shite.

Immediately upon the conclusion of my vacation, my day job seemed to expand in its expectations of me, the best of intentions invariably found me in deep doo-doo, and my debit card somehow and for the first time ever in my life, went missing, of course, at an extremely inopportune time.

The absolute kicker, though, the straw that broke it, was the traumatic discovery that my favorite beer in the whole wide world, Beamish, will no longer be imported to the U.S. (And of course, I discovered this little piece of soul-crushing info much too late to go out and stock up on it! "Cold turkey!")

Again, I am not one given to supernatural ideas. I am a pragmatic, logical individual. But I fear there must be some connection.

Logically speaking, it could ONLY have been the arrival and subsequent loss of this coin that turned my fortune into millery shash, and thusly tarnished my optimism.

It was obvious that there is only one course of action: find this coin. My frantic search continues.

After finding it, if there isn’t a immediate turn of events, luck-wise, I may have to destroy it entirely! (Although, if there are any options that I am overlooking, please let me know!!!)

I admit, not believing in the supernatural, or charms, or any of that junk, I fear I am out of my depth on this. I welcome any advice on the matter. Thank you.

It is so ironic that finding this coin would require a great deal of luck, and if I had any good luck, I wouldn't need to find this coin so badly!

To be continued...