She Signed Up for a Library Card, but Got a Lot More

November 25, 2009 - 7:15pm — birdie

Gig Harbor, WA: When Marie Bassett received a phone call from the Pierce County Library System telling her she had won a free laptop computer, she first thought it was a hoax.

Bassett filled out a little piece of paper when she renewed her library card a while back, but she had forgotten about it.

The countywide library system held a raffle for two laptops during its annual card drive, and Gig Harbor’s Bassett won one of them.

“It was a funny story,” she said. “I went to have my library card renewed, and they had me fill out this little slip of paper. I said, ‘What do you want me to do with this?’ ”

Bassett said she regularly checks out items at the library with her husband, and she decided to get her own card updated. “I thought, ‘That’s dumb. I might want to go without him some time,’ ” she said. “It’s ironic, because I’m really a raffle nut, but I had totally forgotten I had filled out this slip.”

Winning the laptop turned out to be perfect timing for Bassett, who recently lost her job.

“It was a heartbreaker,” she said. “It was truly a dream job. I thought I was going to be there forever.”

Nonetheless, Bassett hopes to turn bad luck around. “Now I think I want to start my own bookkeeping business,” she said. “This laptop is so timely.”