Decoding the Four Ds

The Four Ds.

Death, Disaster, Deduction, Divinity

Four time-proven ways to pick the weekly four winning numbers. Yes, I’m talking about 4D.

Today, my co-worker greeted me with a grin that stretched from ear to ear. I dismissed this rare Monday morning enthusiasm. Maybe he was lucky with his wife last night I thought. Soon news filtered out through the grapevine (read : girl gossip) that a few workers had won the starter prize in Sunday’s 4D draw. That earned them a few thousand quids. And like all previous winners, they are giving a lunch treat to all co-workers this week.

And the lucky numbers … they were the part numbers of the components which were giving us much problems on Friday.

Yes, my workers have succeeded in internalizing wealth creation. Singapore Pools, Magnum, Illegal Gambling Houses, they all work the same. It’s a game for all races, Chinese, Indian and even Malays. My workers have developed the uncanny ability to extract these four numbers from everyday events around the company.

Like when the crazy gale winds blew the neighbours’ make-shift roof into our carpark, even before we made claims for the damage, a few opportunistic workers put our two addresses together and got the winning number.

Then there was the minor accident last year involving a worker who hurt himself in a fall. Not one to miss the silver lining from all misfortunes, a few Chinese workers placed their bets on the 4 digit employee number of the accident victim and sheepishly pocketed their earnings.

Even the four numbers picked out during last year’s Chinese 7th Month prayers in the factory have brought good luck to some patient ones.

Sure, there are many misses. That’s why I don’t participate in this weekly quest in the first place. But as long as the treats are coming, this gives a glimmer of hope to many that their day will come, maybe just around the corner or when the next misfortune strikes.