Call me Lucky I’ve always been lucky. Do you want to know why? Well, the day I was born my dad bought a lotto ticket. And guess what? He won almost a hundred bucks! Dad started calling me ‘Lucky’ and it stuck – everyone calls me Lucky. Since then, 18 years ago, my dad’s bought one lotto ticket each week for $1.25. On Wednesday nights the whole family – dad, mum, my sister and me – sit around the TV to watch the numbers fall. It’s our family ritual. But this year I started to think dad had it all wrong. He was never going to win ‘the big one’ unless he spent a bit more than $1.25 a week. So for a while now I’ve been buying my own lotto tickets. I started with a system 7 – you get more chances and it only costs $8. Then I went to system 8 for $30, then system 9 for $90. Last week I decided to go for the top – system 10 for $220. Ten numbers and so many more chances to win! The trouble was I didn’t have enough money to buy it. I’ve got a part-time job washing cars but that doesn’t get me much. All I needed was $50 more, so I went to the drawer in my parents’ bedroom where I know they keep some cash. I took $50 but I promised myself that I would pay it back soon. Last Wednesday we all sat around the TV and I was so nervous I was shaking. When the numbers fell they weren’t the right ones and I won absolutely nothing. But that wasn’t all. Dad looked over at me and said, ‘Son, I want a word with you’. He took me to his room, opened the cash drawer and said, ‘You took $50 didn’t you?’ I nodded. He was furious at first but then he just looked at me with sad eyes. That night we sat and talked for hours, dad and me. I told him about how I’d started cheap but kept spending more and more. He said he’d never thought that his weekly lotto ticket would cause such problems. Now we’ve got an agreement. Each week we all put $1.25 in a jar. When we get to $40 we’re going out for a ‘lucky’ family dinner on a Wednesday night. That’ll sure beat sitting around the TV watching the numbers fall!

* * * * * * * QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Everyone calls him ‘Lucky’. But then his luck changes … When Lucky doesn’t win he starts to wonder if he really is ‘lucky’ after all. Does luck really exist? Are some people really more lucky than others? 2. Lucky is desperate to get that last $50 he needs to buy a system 10 ticket. But instead of taking it from his parents … Lucky decides instead to take it from the till at work. He’s washing a car a few days later when he feels a tap on his shoulder. Who is it and what happens next?

3. Lucky doesn’t feel so ‘lucky’ after being found out by his dad. But he doesn’t realise how it will affect his sister … After Lucky’s caught stealing, his sister doesn’t trust him any more. But the worst thing is she thinks of a new nickname for him. What do you think she calls him? 4. Lucky’s dad is pretty understanding about the money, and rather than getting too angry he talks to Lucky about it. But what if … What if Lucky’s dad goes ‘psycho’ and screams, ‘You’ve always been a loser. Now you’re stealing from your own family!’ Is it fair of his dad to react like this? What happens next? 5. Lucky’s family makes a deal to save money for a meal instead of buying lotto tickets. But Lucky just can’t help himself … What if Lucky still keeps buying the occasional lotto ticket? Is this OK? How much is ‘too much’ to spend on lotto?

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