THE SELLER WHO FINALLY TESTED HIS OWN LUCK____#57

He has been selling lottery tickets for seven years.

Not playing. Selling.

Baba Tunde's kiosk was just beside the motor park in Ibadan. Small table, small umbrella, stack of tickets that people scratch with coin. The yellow board behind him said in big letters: WIN BIG TODAY! 10 MILLION NAIRA! TRY YOUR LUCK!

Every day he saw people come with hope. Okada men, students, market women, even civil servants in fine shirts. They would scratch and most times they would hiss. He would collect the ticket and say the line he was taught to say by the company.

"Better luck next time."

He said it thousands of times. He said it so much that sometimes he said it in his sleep.

But Baba Tunde never played. He believed selling was better than playing. His wife always told him, "You dey sell luck but you no dey buy luck. Try one day na." He would laugh and say, "My luck is in the commission. Ten naira per ticket is enough for me."

Until last December.

December is when everybody plays. Christmas is near, people want extra money. The company brought a special ticket. Red and gold color. 5,000 naira per ticket. Big prize, 20 million. Baba Tunde was given 50 pieces to sell. He sold 49. One remained.

On Christmas Eve, rain fell. No customer came from morning till 3pm. He was sitting alone, cold, looking at that last ticket. His umbrella was leaking. His phone had no battery. He was thinking about his house, no rice yet for Christmas.

He looked at the ticket. He thought, what if?

He had 5,000 naira in his pocket. That was his profit for three days. If he buys it and loses, there will be no rice. If he wins, everything will change.

He sat for 30 minutes arguing with himself. Finally he said, "God, let me try my own luck for once."

He scratched it.

Slowly. With his own coin.

First line - no win.
Second line - no win.
Third line - he saw three stars. His heart jumped. Three stars meant 50,000 naira.

He shouted inside the kiosk, "Ah!"

People in the park turned. But he still had one more box to scratch. The bonus box. If that box also has a star, it would be 20 million.

His hand was shaking. He scratched the bonus box.

Empty.

He stared at it for a long time. 50,000 was there, but he lost the big one. He felt the loss more than the win. It was strange. He won 50k from 5k but all he could think about was the 20 million that slipped.

The company agent came later that evening to collect returns. Baba Tunde gave him the scratched ticket. The agent checked and said, "Ah, Baba, you win 50k! Congrats!" Then he smiled and added that usual line that Baba Tunde himself had said to others for seven years.

"Better luck next time for the big one."

That night, Baba Tunde went home with 50k. His wife was happy. They bought rice, chicken, everything. The children were happy. But he was not happy.

He was thinking about the star that did not appear.

The next morning, Christmas day, he did not open his kiosk. He stayed at home and was checking his phone, looking at the new promo tickets online. He started calculating. If I try again with the 50k, maybe I can get the 20 million. I have luck now. Three stars already came.

His wife noticed. She said, "Baba, you don sell for seven years. You know how many people don try and lose. You are the one telling them better luck next time....Why you no hear your own advice?"

That sentence hit him.

He had been the voice telling people to try again. But for the first time, he understood what that word does to a person. "Better luck next time" sounds like hope, but it can also be a trap. It makes you think the next time will be your time, even when you should stop.

He sat outside his house that Christmas morning. Children were knocking and shouting "Merry Christmas" with their new clothes. He looked at the 50k envelope on his table. If he goes back to play again, he could lose it all. He has seen a young boy at his kiosk two years ago who used his school fees to play and lost everything. The boy cried at his kiosk and Baba Tunde told him "better luck next time" without feeling it.

Now he felt it.

So he made a decision. He would not play again.

He took 30k and gave his wife to save for the children's school fees. He used 10k to restock his kiosk with more tickets to SELL, not to play. And he used the remaining 10k to buy a small second-hand freezer so his wife can start selling cold drinks beside his kiosk.

That was his win. Not the 20 million he dreamed of, but the wisdom to stop.

Today, when people scratch and lose at his kiosk, he still says "better luck next time." But now he says it differently. He says it with honesty. And sometimes, when he sees someone addicted, using all their money to play, he adds, "My brother, sometimes better luck next time means don't try again. Use the small win you have and go home."

Because he learned that the most dangerous gamble is not the first time you lose. It is the time you almost win.

And that almost win can make you lose everything if you don't know when to stop.

IMAGE USED IS AI GENERATED