Luck

I’m fairly certain that luck is the biggest component of success. I know it was for me. Dilbert succeeded because of a perfect storm involving a sluggish mid-nineties economy, the rise of technology workers, my stalled corporate career, the Internet, my lack of a personal life, accidentally appropriate talent, the timely retirements of better cartoonists, helpful people in the right jobs, and – assuming chaos theory is correct – a spastic butterfly somewhere South of the equator.

I was reminded of the role of luck today as I was in the Houston airport, walking toward my gate. On my left was a restaurant that served whatever is the opposite of heart-healthy cuisine. I think the name of the restaurant was something along the lines of “Dead Cows and Fried Stuff.” Or at least it should have been. Normally, this would be an excellent business concept in the perfect location. In Houston, gravy is a beverage. It would take a lot of bad luck to keep this business from succeeding.

Then I noticed the bad luck.

I assume that when the owners of the restaurant negotiated their lease, they didn’t ask about the location of the emergency heart defibrillator. It was tragically mounted on the wall next to the Dead Cows and Fried Stuff eatery. I have to believe that was bad luck, and – in all likelihood – bad for business. Across from them was a Subway sandwich place. Subway is most famous for promoting their low-calorie menu options. Ouch.

You might think that no one would make an eating decision based on the location of the emergency heart defibrillator. But as soon as you read “heart defibrillator,” you imagine your own enlarged, blood-starved heart, and hear the paramedics yelling, “Clear!” And that’s if you’re lucky enough to collapse when a trained paramedic is around. Otherwise, the cashier from Dead Cows and Fried Stuff is going to be the first one on the scene. He’ll have one paddle on your forehead and one on your crotch. It might restart your heart, but you’ll wish it hadn’t.

I ate a small sandwich at Subway.

Comments

[Hayden]

What a name of the restaurant! The name itself is kind of bad luck already...

Dead... and Fried???!!!

[weight loss cardio workout]

It's great you were not tempted by the gravy beverage.

'Subway is best'

[DML]

Mitt Romney's wife was diagnosed with multiple schlerosis in 1998, so I figure that has to put him back at even.

I just checked out the guy's resume. On the one hand, I hate him because, as you said, he was born handsome, wealthy, tall, AND smart. But on the other hand, he actually seems like a pretty capable guy. *sigh* what to do, what to do?

[greg]

Make your own luck.

[Brian Jones]

Here's what's bad luck: The high-rent Chinese restaurant at Marietta St. & Techwood (Centennial?) here in Atlanta is frequently swathed in raw sewer smell. There's some kind of problem and the city doesn't seem too interested in fixing it, because it's been that way for years now. It's not coming from the restaurant but it might as well be.

[JShope]

It's merely a question of who came first. I think the restaurant was there and the demand brought the defibrillator around later.

They just got tired of carrying it in from the other concourse.

[Don]

"seeing Jared makes be want to club him to death with a baby seal."

I loved that. I'll try using a baby seal as a weapon next time instead of a femur.

[Hovig]

Scott's original post misses the point of the defibrilator. A potential customer might look at the beef and say "I love that food but I worry about having a heart attack," until they see the defibrilator, at which point they say, "but look, if I have a heart attack, someone can just revive me, so I'll be able to finish all my fries after all."

Jerry Wolfe's comment misses the point of the subway experience. The problem is that too many other people, when they say "i only want onions," actually mean, "i want onions plus whatever i might happen to think of between now and the time i digest this sandwich." The subway employee is demonstrating their intelligence by trying to anticipate this before being asked to add pickles to a partially-digested sandwich.

[Mike]

I believe you are right on the money. I know of several people including myself who never come across the perfect set of situations to make them even marginally successful.
While talent is a definite need where success is concerned luck is the vehicle that catapults someone from misery and obscurity to success, money and celebrity. There are some extreemly talented people in this world that will never realize their dreams. They will try with every fiber of their beings but will never have just the right circumstances come together to realize their ambitions.
It's a sad but very,very true story. I dont begrudge those in whom it does happen to. Great for them! Still, it's all about right place and right time. Otherwise be happy in whatever modest success you get.

[WK1]

Forgot to mention, that about a mile down the street from where I live, there is a Dunk'n Donuts. Within a couple of blocks of that Dunk'n Donuts, there are about 20 (not exaggerated) dentist offices. Three of them are next door or across the street.

[WK1]

Sounds convenient.

[Seymour Winderflippen]

That was not luck. Luck was when I won a shovel on a phone-in radio show the other day. In light of fact that my profession involves scraping dead animals off the road, said shovel has proved to be a surprisingly useful utensil.

[Dave]

It isn't luck.

Scott, I read your blog regularly and the post I remember the most is the one where you answered people's questions. One of the questions was how much of your creative effort is wasted. Your response was that 99% of your effort is wasted.

Dilbert may have developed the way it did because of the factors your described, but if other factors had been present, you would have developed something else that became successful.

A lot of people here could probably develop something creative. Write a script, a novel, a song. But, most of don't want to put in the immense time, effort and thought into that endeavor - only to see 99% of it wasted. Really, I couldn't see myself spending 4-8 hours a day writing a joke with 20 words a 3 doodles - I lack the immense discipline to do so.

You are successful because you are willing to spend your time developing crappy to mediocre work 99% of the time in order to get that 1% of product that makes you rich.

That ain't luck.

[Stomper]

Oh, man! You were in Houston and you didn't call me? I'll get my feelings hurt, unless you tell me your schedule was just too busy for you to fit me in. Then you gotta promise to work me in next time. Promise?

--Stomper

[christy]

i totally saw you at the airport.
i was all "is that...no.it couldnt be!"
then i took a picture of you with my cell phone.
i am glad to know i was not hallucinating...

[Peter]

There is a researcher in the UK (http://www.luckfactor.co.uk/index.html) who is looking into why some people are lucky and others can never catch a break.
The basic difference seems to be in how aware someone is of their surroundings. Lucky people are more likely to notice opportunities and more likely to take advantage of them - they also tend to notice and avoid problems.

Sounds somewhat like what you have said in the past about affirmations. It also links to what another commenter said about how many people would even have noticed that the defibrillator was there.

[Noah Vaile]

Hey good deal. It would encourage me knowing that should I choke on a hoof or suddenly find my sluggish blood flow to have ceased a quick stagger out to the concourse and use of the friendly defib will have me back on my feet and ingesting again in moments. Perhaps before my mayonaise soup and dead cow sandwhich had gotten cold. Or before I had.

[Sondra]

Being from Houston, I read most of your post with an eye to NOT being defensive and trying to see the humor in everything.

Then I got to "one paddle on your forehead and one on your crotch" and laughed so hard I cried, stomped my feet, and 'bout fell outta my chair. Thank you.

[Misanthropic Scott]

There used to be a place in Brooklyn (The Crazy Country Club) that advertised "Warm Beer Lousy Food" that did quite well for a while.

I bet the fried stuff next to the dead cow included breaded deep-fried cheese. I can hear my arteries hardening just thinking about it. I'm thirsty now; I think I'll go grab a nice hot glass of gravy. We don't have a defibrilator at home, so I have no paddle in my crotch worries.

[Adam]

["If people have no free will, surely all talk of luck is irrelivant?"] -Matt

Actually the opposite would be true. If everything in life is the result of a large complicated chemical reaction that cannot turn out any other way then everything is just a matter of luck. You do not have the ability to influence the results, so you either get lucky or you do not.

[RightCowLeftCoast]

"This is when I began to understand how Darwin's theory is blocked
by gun control laws" . . .

I have come to the belief, all though this is off topic, that so much of the worlds problems would be solved if everyone owned, and was trained how to properly use, a shotgun. Granted the number of innocent people shot would increase, but so would the amount of guilty people be shot as well. Furthermore, if those non-guilty lawabiding citizens, all had weapons, and the "cohones" to use them, then those who were non lawabiding and immoral would be more fearful to conduct unlawful and dangerous acts.

Futhermore, in the off chance that a segment of the population becomes brain dead, brain hungry, non shotgun wielding zombies . . . then you have your solution already strapped to your back. Pull out your tactical semi-automatic shotgun (with a five round clip) and start firing your way to the safety of others who are also armed. See . . . problem solved.

Furthermore, it will speed up evolution (which I believe is compatible with the concept of God). Specifically that those who are to dumb to understand the training given when one is issues the shot gun, will mostly shoot themselves before shooting others . . . and when they do shoot others, are mostly to be shot quickly enough that those with decent intellegence shoot the shooter so that he, or she, no longer remains a threat to society by and large.

So there you go . . . my petition for everyone to be trained to, and to own, a shotgun.

[Michiel]

Scott, if there's no free will surely there's no such thing as luck is there?

[Aardwizz]

Classic mistake, Scott.

You assume that because YOU see the defibrillator, that everyone else does. They do not. A guy could clutch his chest, drop to the ground right in front of Dead Cows And Fried Stuff, and everyone would be saying - "Gee, if only we had one of them defibrillator-thingies like on TV".

99% of people are too inwardly focused to see a $10 bill lying on a sidewalk. Try dropping one in a busy area and see for yourself how many walk past it.

[Jim]

I'll bet you're one of those losers who actually believes the stupid warnings on cigarette packages and refuses to drive just because you've had a six-pack or two. Shoot, everyone knows you drive better with a few beers in you...
What I just can't understand is why godless heathens like you get all the damn luck, while decent Christian folks like me have all these health problems and keep getting my drivers license revoked!

[Kevin Kunreuther]

I am weak willed. I know what's healthy and good for my body, yet STILL, I'll roll the dice and eat at DEAD COW, DEAD PIG AND DEAD BIRD MEAT PALACE (a couple of times a month, I really roll the dice and gorge myself at the UNCOOKED FISH FLESH AND BARELY DEAD MOLLUSKS ON A HALF SHELL CAFE). Drinking all these Coca-Colas ain't helping either. Maybe all that red wine is helping clear out the mud blood. The apirin twice a day is like crossing my fingers, right?