El Día del Padre

Everyone loves receiving money, not least of all as a gift. I figured it would make a perfect present for Father's Day. But instead of giving straight-up cash, I bought a lottery ticket in Spain for the first time.

I chose the lotto for Dad's present because I have memories of him and Mom buying a ticket every week. I don't believe in throwing my money away like that, but their belief was, “If you don't play, you won't win for sure. If you try, who knows?” Although when I multiply their $2 - $4 weekly spending habit by the number of years they played.... ouch.

In Spain there are a ton of choices to play the lottery: La Primitiva, El Gordo, EuroMilliones... I did a lot of reading on the internet, before braving my first journey into the Lottery Office. I actually had to go twice; the first time I went in, there was a lineup and I didn't want an audience while struggling to make myself understood to the clerk. So I returned in the afternoon when no one was there. The guy at the desk could tell I was new to playing, and spoke slowly. “Buena suerte,” he said as I left.

I could tell Dad was excited when I told him about my present. Usually, his emails are short and terse: “Thanks for the birthday wishes. I didn't do anything for my birthday.” or “Thank you for your email. Take care.” But this time, he wrote an entire paragraph about the benefits of trying your luck, and he even used an exclamation mark!

I think I picked the right present.