Thanks for Nothing!

Exactly that! Nothing! We have a birthday club at our workplace. Each staff member has a turn bringing a birthday cake, card, and some small gift. We gather in the staff room to sing happy birthday and share cake and fellowship. When it was my turn to supply the cake, etc. I included several quick pick 649 lottery tickets in the card. My female colleague all too gladly accepted the cake, card, and lottery tickets. I gave her the gift in good faith and wished her good luck on her tickets for the upcoming 649 draw. Some months later it was my birthday and the same lady returned the favor. For my birthday she brought the usual birthday cake,card and enclosed several 649 quick picks in the card. Everyone was gathered in the staff room as usual. I thanked her for the cake, card and tickets. No sooner than I'd done so, her friend seated next to me said,"I wouldn't thank her just yet if I were you, read the date on the tickets." I did. I couldn't believe it! She'd given me used tickets that she'd bought and checked after the draw. The whole thing was very embarrassing for me. Most people on staff had a good laugh. Others thought it was in bad taste and let her know it. I also let her know that I didn't think much of what she did. She explained that she'd bought the tickets to give to me but her husband, an accountant, told her never to buy anyone else a lottery ticket because he/she just might win. I told her that if that was the case, she simply shouldn't have given me the tickets at all and that I appreciated the card and cake.

Isn't this a trifling matter? Yes and no. If the ticket doesn't win or if the prize is small, then there's usually no problem. But if the ticket turns out to be a jackpot winner, you could have a sticky situation on your hands or at very least, an embarrassing one. However, when you give a ticket to someone as a gift, or vice versa -- a gift is a gift. Each person owes the other nothing if it's a winning ticket. The person who received the winning ticket as a gift could chose not to share some of his/her winnings in which case, the person who gave the ticket could say,"Thanks for nothing!" On the hand, if the ticket turned out to be a big winner, then sharing some of your good fortune would be the right thing to do. At least that's what I'd do because the person was showing generosity and good will in giving you the ticket. These are my thoughts about the situation. It was a definitely learning experience.