Like just about everyone else on earth, I like to win stuff. Although I’m not someone who enters a great many number of contests, I actually won tickets to two different events this week.
First I won tickets to the Perez Hilton Presents concert on Tuesday, and then I went on to win tickets to a Comedy Sportz improv show tonight.
Sadly, I was not able to go to the Perez Hilton concert because my husband had cleaned out the garage’s sump pump, and discovered that the previous owners of our house had been using it as a used motor oil dump. Keep in mind, we’ve owned this house since 1996, so this was not a happy discovery. As my husband pulled massive amounts of horrible thick tarry goop from the pit, the house filled with horrible fumes that sent those of us without breathing protection to a neighbor’s house.
Gag, cough, cough, gag.
Needless to say, my husband was not up for an evening of helping with homework and dealing with dinner dishes, which meant the tickets went unused. (I would have given them away, except that they had to be picked up at the box office waaay across town.)
However . . . today my Twitter feed showed that Comedy Sportz was giving away tickets to the first five people who replied. I quickly sent back a twitter message (I have no idea what it’s supposed to be called) and learned that lightning does indeed strike twice.
I felt like Sally Field at the Oscar podium:
“You like me, you really really like me!”
Luckily, there were no toxic fumes circulating through the house, and it was as easy as pie to bring the kids along. I had even won three tickets, which was perfect as my husband works night shifts.
The evening was fantastic, and I got a kick out of seeing my kids laugh so hard. The owners of the Portland, Oregon Comedy Sportz franchise are friends from the never ending days of preschool, so I have been to their shows a number of times. At $12 a pop they’re a good deal, but I gotta tell you that free tickets were even better.
Thank you very much Comedy Sportz! I laughed so hard I had to use my inhaler.
Have you ever won anything worth bragging about? Please share your stories in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Through the years I have also won:
– Classical music concert tickets
– Joan Baez tickets, (October 31, 1983 — the day my sister was born.)
– A free tune up, oil change, etc.
That’s about it though, which is why twice in one week is so thrilling.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
The Non-Consumer Advocate
One time I won a TV! My father had just passed away and I was seven months pregnant. So, it was such a welcome gift during a trying time..
I never win anything, which makes me loathe to spend any time trying these days.
By the way, a twitter message is called a tweet. Just so you know. lol
About 16 years ago I won 2 round-trip airline tickets on Virgin Atlantic to London. I attended a company appreciation party for a travel agency. They gave away a few trips and I won!
My husband and I went to London for 5 days. We had a great time! It did cost us a little for hotel and food but it was worth it! We loved London and Virgin Atlantic Airline was great!
I like winning things, but I rarely do. Congrats on your wins, though, even if you had to miss one of them… but the second sounds very good, I’m glad you got to go. Now, things I have won? I plastic ring and other such small trinkets at various fairs, but do they really count? I did recently win a very nice doll, though (I’m a doll collector, and I play with them, too) and I would have won a pumpkin because I guessed the correct weight, but I forgot to write my name on the slip of paper. D’oh!
I once won a sweet potato pie from the cafeteria at work. It was a raffle and I said to my coworkers, “I really love sweet potato pie. I’m going to win that.” Then when we got back to the office, the phone rang and I said, “That must be about my pie.” And it was! I was the winner!
I’ve won a lot of concert and play tickets from our local public radio station, and that’s really fun. Our favorite was the guys from “Spinal Tap” – they play it like a real concert, which was hilarious of course.
By myself I never win anything, but my husband seems to be lucky and if I am with him I sometimes win something. One Christmas at his company party we (he) won the grand prize — a color TV. Only… we don’t have a TV other than for videos and at that time we had none at all. We returned it to the store and got a voucher to spend that much in the store, which happened to be Wal-Mart. Automatically, we had an extra $300 for Christmas gifts! Nice!
Base Commissaries do a ton of contests, and I have been fortunate enough to win several things over the years:
A Snapple toy semi filled with coupons for free snapple. This was right before Christmas and my, at the time, 4 yo was beyond thrilled to get the truck under the tree.
A years supply of dog food. Unfortunately, we had a lab and a golden retriever, so it didn’t last anywhere near a year..lol
4 tickets to a University of Michigan vs UCLA football game. My husband is from Michigan and a HUGE UofM fan, so I was “the man” or woman as it would be 😉
100.00 gift cert from J.C. Penny’s
A cooler that is like a carry on bag. Wheels and a handle. My husband and son use it everytime they go fishing.
A grocery pack with coupons for free chicken, a bbq apron, etc.
I once won two free tickets to see Riverdance. I was listening to the radio, mostly still asleep, and the first caller who could correctly name the longest river in Ireland won the tickets. By chance, I got through.
In case you’re curious – it’s the River Shannon, which also happens to be my twin sister’s name.
Congratulations on your wins! That’s exciting!
I’ve never won anything, but my dad once won a new headstall (definition: http://www.cowboyway.com/What/Headstalls.htm) at a local tack store’s yearly raffle. Since he, as a human, has no particular use for a headstall, he gave it to my horse. She looked great in it! I was so excited, because my horse and I had never had new tack before (it’s cheaper to buy used tack, and good tack that has been well cared for can last for decades), and that headstall looked so fetching on my horse! To my further delight, a friend-of-a-friend gave us a spiffy bit for free because my horse reminded her of her first horse, and my parents decided to splurge on brand new, matching reins for the headstall.
Eleven years later, we’re still using that headstall, and my horse still looks great in it! 🙂
The first time I won something, it was regrettable: I arranged a hockey pool at work, and won — making it look very, very suspicious.
Then I won a guitar and free back-stage passes to an concert — that was nice.
If good luck comes in threes, I’d be happy with some straight-up cash next time round. 🙂
A Twitter message, moreover, is a Tweet.