luck of irish

Sue Coomer carries a lucky rabbit's foot and a couple of shamrocks to bring her good luck.

The rabbit's foot, dyed red and worn in places, was one her son, Todd, carried to his high school baseball game when the team played in a state championship. And since it brought the team good luck, Coomer believes it might help her.

Most of her good luck charms come out when Coomer plays bingo.

Like many people, Coomer's not looking for the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but just wants to have good luck.

But what is good luck, and how do you get it if you don't already have it?

None of the psychology instructors at Southeast Missouri State University could provide a clue.

Dr. Richard Burns said there was a theory about partial reinforcement effects that says that people react positively to positive events and negatively to negative events. But he guessed mathematicians would provide better theories about chance and probability.

She's not a mathematician but Velma Wingerter has a theory. "You can't lose every time," she said.

That's true, according to research by Dr. David G. Myers, a psychology professor at Hope College In Holland, Mich. If a person lost four times in a row, there would be a 95 percent chance of doing better in the next four games. But the odds of losing the next four games are roughly the same, Myers said in a chapter of his latest book "Intuition: Its powers and peril" due out in September.

"It's true that exceptionally bad luck is likely to be followed by less extremely bad luck," he wrote.

And some people still consider themselves to be lucky -- no matter what happens.

Bill Kibler supposed he'd been lucky most of his life. The 79-year-old man said he has plenty to eat and clean clothes, so that must mean he's lucky enough.

"I've made it this long," he said.

James Hayes agreed. "I figure I've got to have good luck. I'm here and able to make it on my own."

Earl Nothdurft was hoping for a little good luck when he retakes his Missouri driver's exam. But no good luck charm would help, he insisted.

"They don't work. It's just what you feel," Nothdurft said.

Elmer Cook agreed. "It's all in your mind."

Athletes who think a lucky shirt can help them win a game are just being silly, he said. "I don't believe any of those athletes. They win because of skill. They're either good enough to make the shot or they won't. It's all in the mind and skill."

But plenty of athletes -- and plain, old regular folks, too -- believe a charm can bring them good luck.

At Bingo World, players bring charms with them hoping to win big jackpots.

Della Phillips said her luck has been better this year than in the past, partly because she's retired now. In the hour before the bingo games start, Phillips readies her lucky charms.

Most of them are trinkets or little stuffed dolls that were gifts from grandchildren or friends. A Ty Beanie Baby bear, a finger puppet, a leprechaun and even a penny found in her son's yard are spread around the bingo cards.

The penny was facing head's up "or I wouldn't have picked it up otherwise," Phillips said.

Coomer said it's not really superstition but tradition that keeps her bringing the trinkets to Bingo World. "If it works then I stay with it," she said.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126