20 People Who Tasted Victory, But Then Ended Up On A Rollercoaster Of Emotions

Certain people have been lucky enough to win a contest or raffle and experience the sweet taste of victory. However, due to a turn of events, the sweet ended up becoming bitter. A good way to deal with similar situations is to learn to laugh at yourself. After all, it is as the writer Mark Twain once said: “The human race has a truly effective weapon: laughter”. Some manage to accomplish this feat, while others, not so much.

The team of awesome.club decided to bring together in a single article stories from Internet users addressing those victories that, in one way or another, left the protagonists in doubt between laughing and crying.

I once won a short story contest. They sent me a letter informing me that I had won. However, they later decided that I was too young to participate. I don’t even know if that was in the rules. And then they said I wouldn’t receive the award or be in the paper, but I could go to the awards ceremony and watch while someone else received the award. It was cool. © ASK_IF_IM_PENGUIN / RedditI won a can of Coke Light in a bingo, but it exploded when I opened it. I got drenched in Coke Light. Thanks. © Connect-Smell761 / Reddit When I was a kid, I won a spelling bee. The prize was an interior and exterior car cleaning, as well as a free parking service. It was exactly what an 11 year old boy needed. © No-Strike-4560 / Reddit I won an art contest with a piece that I was very proud of. The prize was a little spoon that didn’t even have anything special. And the contest organizer still got my artwork. © Extreme-Database-695 / Reddit

In a raffle, I won ten free driving lessons. I was 8 years old. © timp222 / RedditI entered a poetry contest when I was about 8 years old. I was doing really well writing poetry, so my teacher convinced me to write one more to present. There would be 20 winners, and each one would receive a book voucher worth R$30. I won one of the coveted first places and, thrilled, went to the bookstore to pick up my prize. Mentally, I had already spent the amount on a new book. The winning poems were on a blackboard. Soon I found mine, and to my delight I saw my other poem! Both had been awarded! I would have 60 reais in book vouchers to receive immediately! I went to the office and explained how my talents had won me two awards, and asked to withdraw them. Answer: no. They would only give me one. I was devastated. Obviously, all the book vouchers were there. Obviously, one of them would be left over. I had won, twice, fair and square. Still, they wouldn’t give me both prizes. Almost three decades have passed. I still get irritated every time I walk past that bookstore. Fortunately, it was a bad bookstore, not a good one. So I could go on buying books on the good side and boycotting the bad one forever. © MrBiscuitOGravy / Reddit When I was a kid, I won a contest that awarded me a modeling contract. A week later, however, the company went bankrupt. At least I got to meet Fernanda Lima, a famous TV presenter, and get a kiss on the cheek from her. © Chubby_Yorkshireman / RedditI won a double VHS box set of the De Olho no Clima program, which compiled the best climate changes from around the world. © Ezzy-525 / Reddit A few years ago I worked at a burger joint. My co-workers gave me the “most beloved team member” award. They gave me a free burger coupon. It would have been great if it weren’t for the free hamburgers they gave us daily for the employees to eat. © yellowboots99 / Reddit

In elementary school, I won a drawing contest that awarded lifetime access to the action stations, which were like a children’s play area. I won and received the silver ticket, only to lose it that same afternoon. I didn’t even get to use it. © phillmybuttons / Reddit When I was around 9 or 10 years old, I was on a sports team (the Brownies) and entered a contest organized by a magazine. My hope was to win one of the prize lunch boxes, as I hated the one I had back then. However, I ended up winning one of the main prizes: a mountain bike. It was very cool! But, unfortunately, I was stuck with that awful lunch box for a while longer. © CouchKakapo / Reddit 25 years ago, my mom bought a raffle ticket at the hospital when she went to an outpatient appointment. She was rooting for second prize, as it was a very large basket of food. A few weeks later, the hospital called and said she had won first prize, a mountain bike. My mom was 60 and hadn’t ridden a bike since she was 10. © never_doing_that / Reddit When I was 7 or 8, I won a radio contest, and the prize was a lifetime supply of LEGO (it was about ten boxes of assorted themes, e.g. Star Wars, etc.). Back then, I loved LEGO and I was incredibly moved. Unfortunately, the prize was to be received by the winners’ school and used only at the educational institution. My primary school removed the boxes, I was featured in the local newspaper, and the school never allowed me to play with those pieces. Not even once. © geovillan / Reddit

When I was 12, I bought a raffle ticket for a supermarket chain that had a spa weekend as the first prize. Only people over 18 could participate, so I used my mother’s data. My intention was, if I won, to give her a big surprise. To my delight, a few weeks later I heard my mother talking on the phone. I ran into the room, all excited, but at the same time I heard: “I didn’t participate in any raffle!” And right away, she hung up the phone! © Bagginsthebag / RedditAt my job, I was chosen employee of the month and given a tin of cookies. But the food had been expired for two months. At a previous job, I won tickets to a movie theater that was an hour’s drive away. © christopia86 / RedditThis is the worst thing anyone has ever done to me. As a teen leader, I “won” a place to participate in a trip to Japan through an international travel guide entity aimed at girls called Girlguiding International Selection. Without saying anything, my mother turned down my job as a guide on the trip because it would ruin our annual family vacation. The worst part is that I later realized I was in my room when my mom got the call, and she hid it from me for months, making me believe I hadn’t won the coveted spot. And she still comforted me while I wept from the bitterest disappointment. Finally, she told the truth. I will never forgive her. Certainly, all of this made the can of beans I won in a raffle as a kid look like the best prize in history. © YourSkatingHobbit / Reddit

If you’ve also won a bingo, raffle or contest whose prize was something nice, leave a comment telling us how it happened. Same goes if the prize wasn’t great!