Good fortune on the Subway

We’re in a country that’s facing a serious depression with economic down turn, the dollar is dropping, there are possible layoffs, and too many wars. After my transit-check card didn’t work this morning, I was sure it was going to be an annoying day. Then I sat next to a mom and her daughter who’s in college. The daughter was bitching at first about money and how she probably can’t afford to go to Greece to see her family overseas. I was thinking, “Poor baby. Get over it.” The mom was also annoyed and said that the daughter probably could do it if she saved. The daughter was hell bent that she couldn’t afford it and then started rambling on about her friend Ben going abroad for a semester. The mom was interested and started asking questions about what studying abroad was, like what classes you have, what countries you visit. The daughter went into full details about Greece, Italy, and Spain and all the different classes there were available. She then told a story about these girls that roomed with her friend and how they were snobby rich kids that didn’t even care about being in the Sistine Chapel and seeing Michelangelo work of art in real life. That pissed off mom. She asked how much it was. The daughter said it was $7500.
Mom said, “Ok. You should go.”
The daughter said, “What?”
Mom said, “You can go. I have enough saved for you to go. This is a chance of a lifetime. You should go.”
D-“But it’s $7500! That doesn’t even include spending costs for food.”
M-“Ok. We’ll figure it out.”
D-“I’ll work extra hours. No more extracurricular for this semester. I have to save.”
M-“Don’t worry, I’ll help.”
D-“But that’s almost $3000 more! That’s too much.”
M-“It’ll be your birthday present.”
D-“That’s too much. It’ll be birthday and Christmas for the next couple of years! [she starts crying] This is the chance of a lifetime. Are you serious?”
M-“Absolutely.”
D-“You can come the last week I’m there and we can go home together.”
M-“I would like that. I’ve never been.”

Yeah. I almost cried too.