Are you feeling lucky?

Certain events at the beginning of November saw me mulling over the concept of luck.  The word luck is thought to have Dutch origins with the word coming from ‘luc’ – a shortening of the old Dutch word ‘gheluc’ – meaning happiness or fortune.  If you think about it there are numerous phrases which are used by people every day referring to luck, good or bad.

‘Touch wood’ is one such phrase and I’m sure you’ve all heard this expression.  It’s commonly blurted out by someone after they’ve made a bold statement relating to some good luck they’ve had in the past – or hope to have in the future.  The statement is then followed by a desperate search for some wooden item to touch, to avoid this ‘good luck’ turning ‘bad’.

I said “touch wood” during a recent conversation with my offsider Mick. We were happily discussing an apparent reduction in the number of times we’d been ‘called out’ to attend urgent jobs while off duty. You can probably see where this is going… Yep, despite touching plenty of wood (a table, a chair, my head), about an hour later my phone rang and I was off chasing a drunken idiot who was running amok in Rainbow.

This bloke was pretty lucky because – despite trying to fight numerous people around town (including yours truly) and not having the size or skills to back it up – he ended up back in his hometown of Gympie without a scratch. He did however, collect an expensive souvenir of his trip to the coast in the form of an $800 Public Nuisance ticket.

Another phrase you’ve probably heard is, ‘Luck of the Irish’. Turns out this might not apply to all Irishmen – particularly the one we encountered last month. While this little bloke had been quite lucky – regularly drink driving around town without being caught – his luck was about to run out. Maybe he forgot to ‘touch wood’, or (more likely) he simply upset the wrong person, because we were made aware of his antics and got him drink driving in the middle of town.  After issuing him with the relevant paperwork (including a notice immediately suspending his driver’s licence), we sent him on his way.

The Irishman obviously still felt lucky, because he walked straight from the Rainbow Beach Police Beat to his car and tried to drive home – talk about ‘pushing your luck’. Mick quickly showed him the error of his ways and word is that he now feels ‘down on his luck’ and wants to leave town.

Still on the subject (of luck), I was recently made aware of a social media post asserting that an element of ‘luck’ was required to get in contact with the local police. Some of the comments I read seemed to suggest it would be easier to ‘find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow’ than to make contact with the Rainbow Beach Police. I may be exaggerating a tad, but the gist of the thread was ‘frustration’, so hopefully I can help you out.

If a crime is happening now, a life is threatened, or the offender is still in the area, call Triple Zero (000). Otherwise think Policelink 131 444.  Policelink is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and they will take your complaint and detail the job to us. You can also register certain complaints online – like complaints about noisy parties (it’s an easy process). Or, try calling us directly at the police beat on our office number, which is 5480 1744 – which we’ll answer if we’re there.

Whatever method you use, if you take the time to make the call we will attend to your complaint.  If we’re not working and it’s urgent, we will be called out and attend straight away, if it’s not urgent we will come and see you the next time we’re working – no luck required…