The Chance of Winning

About a week ago, I got a strange phone call. At first I thought it was a prank call. It was someone from D-Patrick, the local Honda dealership. The voice on the phone told me that I would need to be at the dealership on the next Monday around 5:00pm as I was one of 52 people that had a chance to win a Honda Civic. It suddenly sunk home that the call was real.

Between our immediate family and my wife's father we have purchased three Honda's from D-Patrick... an Odyssey, a Pilot and a Ridgeline. We have had service performed there also. I thought that maybe the entry for the vehicle came from having service performed there, but the call was fairly short and I had not thought to ask.

This brings us to tonight. Annette was working late, but Michael and Rhiannon wanted to tag along. We got there a bit early and got to watch the other contestants file in. There was a person in a bee suit to entertain the kids and of course Rhiannon had to have a picture with him. She also fell in love with the car.

It was a natural gas model. It had been used only by the dealership. It was in great shape and perfect for a lot of the out-of-town running we have been doing lately.

I started counting heads. It sounded like our 1:52 chance of winning would actually be around 1:44 as you had to be present to win. There were cookies, coffee and drinks set up and there was even a table of gift bags for those who came but did not get to drive away with a Honda Civic.

The showroom floor had quite a few people and their children present. All were in good spirits and there was an air of anticipation.

I knew not to get my hopes up. It was still a long shot. I told my offspring that we were going to clap for whoever won the car and be happy for the person who won.

A gentleman came in and double checked that those who were missing had not simply forgotten to check in, but there were indeed about eight folks who had not been able to make it. He explained that it would be by elimination. If your name was pulled out of the box, you were out. The only name left in the box would be the winner.

He selected the kids in the room to be the ones who would pull out the names. The process of elimination started.

The first child reached in and pulled out his own mother's name. Irony had already struck. There was a good hearted, slightly saddened laugh in the room but the family took it in stride laughing.

Names were pulled and called out. Most received their gift bag, smiled politely and left. Some stayed on to see who would be the ultimate winner in this game of elimination.

Rhiannon drew. In fact, as he went around the room, Rhiannon had drawn three times. We were now in the last fifteen people out of the over forty that had started.

The box came by again. Something told me what was going to happen. She reached in the box...

...and drew out my name.

I laughed. Michael laughed. The crowd laughed. It had happened a second time. A child had eliminated their own parent.

I looked down. She wasn't laughing. She was looking down at the floor and sad. We assured her it was alright.

She received our gift bag and started towards the door. I stopped her there, and told her the same thing I had said earlier. We were staying to clap for whoever won. I told her it was not her fault and that I thought it was actually funny.

The Winner!

We waited. They got down to the last seven and had them stand by the car. Then it was down to two. Then there was a winner. I did not catch her name. We all clapped heartily for her.

She won a car. That is always good stuff.

The D-Patrick staff had Michael take a handful of cookies while I asked one of the sales associates how we were all selected. He said that he thought it was from those who liked the D-Patrick Honda Facebook page. He said they drew fifty-two names from that group.

I have always thought that D-Patrick was a great dealership. Nice people, selling a quality product. This event was pretty classy.

So... all in all, it was fun. I still have my 2004 Honda Pilot.

The thing is as tough as a tank, hauling the family, Scouts and pulling a trailer to many a campout. The wife will still be driving her 2003 Honda Odyssey for a bit longer too.

I got to show the kids a lesson in how to be happy for someone else and explain what the word "irony" means.

Rhiannon's moment of sadness was fixed by a baked potato and salad for my little healthy eater. A little butter, pepper, lettuce and ranch dressing can cure a lot. She thought she had caused us to lose. I told her if she had not pulled my name, someone else would have done so. I told her that if anyone was going to call my name, I was glad it was her.

She got to be a winner after all. Potatoes are good stuff too.