Toss of a Coin

TOSS OF A COIN



The flight from New York to London was boring. As expected.



He wore an elegant Giorgio Armani suit with a parker pinned to his jacket’s pocket, unfortunately hidden by the Boeing seatbelt. Stuck in his seat for hours amid two total strangers, Vince felt helplessly annoyed. The man on his right – by the window – was sneezing continuously, never covering his mouth. Once, Vince looked with mercy onto him, half expecting an apology but, again, got another sneeze, almost in his face. On his left, a woman was snoring heavily.



Vince looked at his watch. Still two hours to go. His right hand was still holding “Coin Collector” which had lists of the world’s rarest coins and their prices. Usually, the magazine excited him as he struck off coin after another in it, meaning that he acquired another rare coin. It took him years to build such collection. And suddenly, out of nowhere, he got to know this numismatic from London who decided to sell his collection. Vince agreed to buy it in whole – meaning that it would add twenty five rare coins to his priceless collection.



But after hours of flying, this magazine was annoying him. Vince was only expecting one thing. The landing of the Boeing.



Emergency. The airplane develops an engine failure. People put life vests on them and jumping off the plane. The sneezer suddenly jumps over his thighs and tells him “No time to ponder now. It’s either heads or ….. Aaaaaaazzzzzinnnnnnn……” He sneezes in his face, then completes the sentence “…. tails.” Vince weeps away the wet drops from his face.



Yes, no time to think. Vince wears a life vest too. He jumps. And just like a toss of a coin…. It is heads for Vince. Tails for the sneezer.