“I’m glad you sat where you did. I thought all the seat faced backwards.”

It was the end of my glorious trip to Denver and I had just boarded the train to get to the airport. The friend who had dropped me off told me the line ended at the airport so I could right it to the end and not have to transfer.

When I stepped up into train I saw all the seats facing me. Would I have to ride the whole way backwards?

Then I saw a guy towards the front of the car sit down facing forward. Ah ha! The seats on that end of the car faced forward. I made my way up there and sat in the row in front of that guy.

“I’m so glad you sat down! I wouldn’t have noticed the seat faced forward,”

It took him a moment to understand what I meant. “I’ve never ridden this train before.”

That’s when I filled him in with the knowledge my friend had given me. One straight shot all the way to the end.

But when we compared tickets, we saw a problem.

He had a ticket that was only good for local routes. I had a ticket that went all the way to the airport. His was 6 dollars and mine was 10.

Hm. He had acted in good faith. But the ticket wasn’t right.

I had just met him, but I could see the situation and the ramifications clearly.

He could step off and get the right ticket. Or he could stay put.

What were the consequences?

This is exactly the sort of conundrum life presents us so often.

You gotta ask yourself:

Do you feel lucky?

What was at risk? What did he stand to gain or lose?

There are a few things that are certain. There are a lot more that aren’t. And even the things that are certain might not be. Almost every choice is a risk.

So much is life is doing your best, taking your chances and seeing how it works out.

I knew that the train came every 15 minutes, so his risk in this case if he got caught was small. He had enough time to get off, and fix it.

It’s great if life leaves you a margin. But even without a margin, the risks still have to be taken.

I know I’ll be lucky some of the time. And when I’m not, I’ll just have to try again.

That’s the way I want to live. I guess I do feel lucky. Or at least I want to be lucky.