An Even Chance

It's said that the Big Bopper won his ticket for the flight that killed him (and Buddy Holly) on a coin toss. That shouldn't come as too big a surprise; in fact, I often feel like EasyJet crews decide whether or not to perform "vital repair work" on their planes by tossing chicken bones or examining pig offal. Chance is a key ingredient in life.

Come on, we've all done it. What if I'd gone to this school instead of that one? What if I'd lived here instead of there? Should I have said yes? Should I have said no? The course of all history has turned on events as insignificant as a packet of cigars being dropped on the ground (it contained secret plans that prevented a crushing Confederate victory at Antietam, and the almost certain permanent division of the USA into two nations), or the capricious whims of an art critic (Adolf Hitler notoriously wanted nothing more as a young man than to be a successful painter).

It's never, ever worth agonising over. Although to be on the safe side: always pick your cigars up, never rubbish anyone's art no matter how bad it is, and never flip a coin before getting on an EasyJet.