April 30, 2006

• Internet Island Topic Post 10.03: Winning and Losing

  Internet Island Topic Post 10.03: Winning and Losing 10. 3 Winning and Losing: At one time or another, we all win, and we all lose something. Have you ever won anything? This could be literally or figuratively. You could think of having a child or children “winning” a great gift. You could think that having a beloved relative pass on as “losing” someone. Open your imagination, what is your greatest “winning” or “losing” situation. A softball game you helped to make a score for your team. A large cashout in a casino. You dropped your wedding ring down the sink. You totalled your favorite car.

  

  Winning:

  I won a new baby brother at the age of three. He was my best friend and confidante well into my young adulthood.

  I won a seat in a 1st grade class at my first school, skipping kidnergarten, because I already knew how to read and write.

  I won lots of recognition in elementary school and junior high because of my grades.

  I won a a journalism award at ELAJC in my junior year of high school for writing a feature story about driver training.

  I won roles in two all school plays in high school.

  I broke the “pull up” and “rope climbing” records in Physical Education classes.

  I won a slot as editor of the campus newspaper as a junior, which was usually a position awarded a senior. I sat on the campus commission for two years.

  I won the respect and readership of a lot of friends and acquaintences in high school because of my poems and short stories.

  I won a slot in the campus literary magazine both as a junior and senior.

  I won a California scholarship to USC.

  I won two very quick promotions early in my retail career.

  I beat the time limit on a college psychology test which nobody had ever finished before and was given to gauge the frustration factor of the takers.

  I won over $500.00 on two consecutive trifectas while betting on horses the first time my then girlfriend took me to the track.

  I won a new shiny metal hip at the age of 41.

  I won $250.00 on a quarter slot machine in Vegas after playing only three quarters. The loot filled two of those plastic coin buckets. It was pretty thrilling.

  I won the love of a good woman when I met Liz last year.

  I’ve won lots of friends and readers because of my internet activity and Xanga particpation.

   

  
  Losing:

  I lost my twin sister at birth.

  I lost four teeth and broke my jaw in an auto accident when I was 14. Because of the same accident, I lost the ability to bite into a sandwich and had to cut them up until college. I also lost the corrected bite which three years of braces had supplied.

  I lost the election for Associated Student Body President when I ran as a senior.

  I lost my virginity to a hooker in Hollywood at the age of 21.

  I lost my father to his 13th heart attack the same year.

  I lost my mother after she suffered a bilateral stroke which turned her into a vegetable. She died soon afterwards.

  I lost my college diploma when I dropped out of school to help with family matters since I was now head of the household.

  I started losing my hair at the age of 27.

  I lost my job two times because the companies for which I worked went out of business.

  I lost my job once because I didn’t record a proper markdown form when I sold some merchandise below cost and was implicated in a security sting.

  I lost one of my cars when my brother flipped it over in a wreck while borrowing it. It was my dad’s so I didn’t charge him.

  I lost my driver’s license as a young adult as a result of too many drunk driving arrests.

  I lost my mind a couple of times and a lot of money to drugs and alcohol in the early 80s.

  I lost my first apartment in Torrance when I was kicked out for partying too much in 1981.

  I lost my left hip to hip replacement surgery at the age of 41.

  I’ve lost three good friends to an early death. One at 37, one at 47, and one at 51.
  

   

   

   

  • 10:56 am
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