Winning isn't everything. Sharing is.

What I'm about to tell you is true. No names have been changed to protect nobody. Anybody that went to Utah State Uni-fur-city (I included that because I dream of one day visiting a place called Fur City--I read about it a long time ago in an Orson Scott Card book. Not the really famous one, but some other one he wrote that never got published. Actually, it was a screenplay.) knows that each and every semester without fail, ASUSU sponsors a bingo night where thousands of people fill the ball room on campus and the largest bingo game this side of the Jordan River goes down. Tables are lined up end to end to end to...the point is that when all is said and done, one table is about as long as watching General Conference without falling asleep.

Everyone took their seat at one of the huge tables. We were all lined up staring down at our bingo cards. We looked like Asian women at a Nike sweatshop, focusing on our work in front of us, looking neither right or left. The prizes were serious. An old school Nintendo, a lava lamp, gift cards to local hotspots such as Hastings Video, the USU Bookstore, and Somebody's Attic. Everyone there was in it to win it, especially me.

I haven't won a lot of stuff in my life, but I know several people who have. One time I was sitting next to Jesse at a Warren Miller movie screening, and he won a season pass to Beaver Mountain. One time Andrew Cazier lent Phil a dollar to buy a raffle ticket at the Banff Film Festival, and Phil won the grand prize--an old-style beach cruiser with new school flare and pizazz. Another time Phil was sitting right next to me when his number was called to win a brand new pair of fancy twin-tip skis. Once I got in a car wreck with a guy that had just won the lottery. He got out of his vehicle and said, "You know what, don't worry about it. In fact, you can just keep my car." I didn't. I actually fled the scene because I was driving an unlicensed, unregistered car. I was outta there.

So when I win something, I get excited. I was sitting at the far end of one of the longest tables, seemingly miles away from the emcee that was calling the numbers. "B-11. G-42." Come on, baby, just one more. "N-30." Yes! I slammed my crayola crayon down on the table and yelled, "BINGO!" The victory music came on (I think it was Cher's Do You Believe In Life After Love) and I jumped up onto my chair, then onto the table. Instead of running down the aisle The Price Is Right style, I ran along the entire table top, kicking crayons and losing bingo cards out of the way. One girl yelled, "Hey, you broke my phone!" I ignored her because how dare somebody try to ruin my moment. I got to the end of table and in one perfect gazelle-like leap I jumped over the kid in the wheelchair that was sitting at the head of the table, and landed gracefully on the stage. People were cheering. Some were booing, I'm not sure if it was because they wanted to win, or because I accidentally barely nicked that wheelchair kid in the head with my foot when I jumped over him and there was a tiny itsy bitsy bit of blood by his eye now. Man, what is up with people trying to steal happy moments from someone that just won? Some folks are so selfish.

I was caught up in the moment. I was filled with energy and adrenaline. I grabbed the microphone from the emcee and said, "I just want to thank everybody for supporting me. I love you all. When this is all over tonight, I'm taking everyone that's interested to KFC!" The crowd erupted. I was a hero. I then got the entire audience to start chanting, "KFC, KFC, KFC." For that moment, I was loved by everyone. Even the cell phone girl and the wheelchair kid were on their feet (I know, it was a milagro de Jesus) chanting and cheering and crying.

I don't remember much of what happened right after that. I eventually claimed my carwash kit prize (2 sponges, 3 different kinds of Armor-all, and a few of those smelly cardboard trees that you hang from your rearview mirror, or if you're really desperate for scent, you stick them in your heater vents) and exited the stage. Later that night some friends and I really did go to KFC, we got there right before closing time. I ordered a bag full of Chicken Snackers and gave them out to the three other people I was with. Right as we were about to get into the car to leave, another vehicle pulled up to us. "Hey, you're the KFC guy. Did you mean what you said earlier," the boy in the passenger seat asked. "You bet I did," I responded. I then pulled the last two Chicken Snackers in all of Logan out of the bag and handed one each to the couple in the car. That's when I recognized them--it was the cell phone girl and the wheelchair kid. Together. A warm feeling washed over me and I felt a tear in my eye. "Thanks man," said the boy as they slowly pulled away. "No, thank you," I thought to myself. "Thank you." And that's when I realized that winning isn't everything. Sharing is.