Sunday, November 02, 2008 De la Cruz-Busto: Games of chance By Li-an de la Cruz-Busto Choices
MY SIBLINGS and I used to hate it when our mother would always ask us to sit down and write on several one eighth sheets of white paper our names, address and signatures which we would later put in envelopes together with soft drink crowns or tansans.
And that wasn't limited to tansans. There were detergent sachets, candy wrappers or just about anything else that had raffle draws as gimmicks as come on to consumers. Our mother had a collection of what products were due for raffle or those that were usually in our household.
Sweepstakes tickets (the lotto was not launched yet) from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) were not in the list or among the options because you had to buy it and my mother was just being practical, I guess. Plus, the probability of hitting the jackpot was quite nil because of the several numbers involved, not to mention that it was also sold in all parts of the country.
Our mother was very patient and persistent in collecting these stuffs. At the time, we disliked it because sitting down to write was like hell. It was as if it had taken most of our time.
At the time, we did not see the logic behind the endless entries that we would write because we were so preoccupied with the thought of playing. Of course, nothing beats playing with neighbors in our subdivision. We would always look forward to playing than writing for raffle entries.
My mother was always an optimist and tireless about raffle draws. I know she believed winning in any of the draws would be an added bonus to our family as we are just like any other families who strive to have a good life.
Of course, our parents worked hard to give us that but sometimes times become hard and the way to easy and comfortable life would be winning in draws that have very generous awards and prizes.
Now that I am already a mother myself, I see the sense behind our mother's perseverance in these games of chance. Although I could not recall a time that we have won major prizes, it did not deter our mother from still joining them.
Several years later, I now also find myself in my mother's shoes. Although there are still softdrink crowns and the like, much of what are available now are raffle tickets mostly from big department stores and establishments as these are a lot easier to manage perhaps.
Since becoming a mother, I have started collecting raffle tickets to write my name as well as that of my husband's (my son is only six and is too young to write in raffle tickets) and drop these in drop boxes.
I know, like our mother, I want to win instant fabulous prizes for me and my family because these come free if at all one gets lucky to win. With the hard times and economic crunch, I now realize that these gimmicks are a welcome respite albeit more often than not, just wishful thinking. As they say-it is never a sin to dream and it is also free to dream and dream big.
This time, it is my child's turn to ask why I had to fill out so many raffle tickets every now and then. And I tell him that by doing so, we could win prizes like SUVs, for instance, from the promo of a leading pharmacy or drugstore nationwide.
And like me and my siblings, it would still be difficult for my son to understand my joining such. He thinks that by doing so, it would be automatic for us to win prizes. He remembered what I told him because at one point when we got to go back to the drugstore, he was bugged and asked me how come we still did not win the vehicle, the prize I told him about.
For a six-year-old boy, it would be difficult to make him understand the mechanics involved in raffle draws where lady luck is not always the name of the game. These are after all fun games. Just like a box of chocolate, you do not know what you are going to get.
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Li-an, a mother of one, is a pilot-officer married to a pilot-officer. She was a reporter of Sun.Star Davao just before she decided to fly.
