The Dice Man

C said: Thanks for the candy bar! Have a rice day :)

G said: My pleasure. I always have a nice day... just waking up alive is the prize, the rest is a gift, no matter what happens. We could have been on the Air France flight.

C said: Yes, I know. I read about a couple that couldn't travel because their passport had not been renewed. That's fate.

G said: Roll of the dice....you just never know. I read a wonderful book one time about a man who decided to make all his decisions in life based on rolling the dice. It was called The Dice Man.

C said: Did he survive? was he lucky enough?

G said: Yes, but he was thrown in jail at the end. For example, he was attracted to his neighbors wife... they were friends. He desired her secretly as she was attractive. So, one day he decides to let the dice determine if he should do nothing, go talk to her or rape her. He had to rape her but she liked it so... they started having an affair. Then he threw the dice to see if he would leave his wife, stay with her, etc.

C said: He was a coward, then. He couldn't take the responsibility of making a decision.

G said: No, I think the book was about the fact that many things that happen to us in our lives are arbitrary, random and chaotic as a rule and have nothing to do with what we planned. Somewhat like the string theory... o sea, the air displacement caused by a butterfly's wings flying in Brazil can cause a huge hurricane in the U.S. Many important things in my life have happened because I was in the right place at the right time rather than any decision I made. therefore, the book is an examination of someone who decides to recognize that fact and live by it. But yes, it does absolve you of responsibility instead of then feeling guilty over decisions we have made that have turned out badly. People should stop feeling so responsible and guilty for things... it seems to be an obsession of ours lately (culpa mia).

C thinks: I recall someone talking to me like that.