White reindeer are considered good luck, and herders should have one in their herd

Setting: A cozy wooden cabin in Tromsø, Norway. Snow lightly falls outside as two friends, Erik and Lars, sit by the fireplace sipping coffee.

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Lars: (peering out the window)
Look! Did you see that? A white reindeer just crossed the ridge. That’s got to be a sign, Erik.

Erik: (chuckles)
A sign of what? That it snowed recently and reindeer are blending in?

Lars:
No, no, no. Don’t mock it. White reindeer bring good luck! You know the Sámi believe every herder should have at least one. It’s tradition.

Erik:
Tradition, sure. But luck? Come on, Lars. That’s like saying every farmer should have a four-leaf clover growing next to their tractor.

Lars:
Four-leaf clovers are lucky too!

Erik: (grinning)
You’re impossible.

Lars: (earnestly)
Listen, when my uncle Per got his first white reindeer, his herd doubled within a year. He started selling to gourmet restaurants in Oslo. Coincidence? I think not.

Erik:
Okay, let’s play this out. What if he just got better at breeding and feeding them? Maybe improved pasture, smarter winter sheltering—things that actually impact reindeer health?

Lars: (defensive but playful)
You and your science. You always have some rational excuse for everything.

Erik:
That’s because rational excuses usually work. I mean, white reindeer are rare—sure. Around 1 in 10,000, right? That rarity makes them feel special, even magical. But there’s no causal link between fur pigment and financial fortune.

Lars:
But Erik, humans aren’t robots. We need stories, symbols. You think the Northern Lights are just ions and solar winds? No poetry? No soul?

Erik: (laughing)
The Northern Lights are poetry—just in plasma form! Look, I’m not saying tradition isn’t beautiful. It is. But it doesn’t mean we can’t question it. If white reindeer bring luck, why do we never hear about unlucky white reindeer?

Lars:
Well… maybe people just don’t talk about those ones. Like embarrassing cousins.

Erik: (snorts)
So you’re saying there’s a cover-up? A white-reindeer conspiracy?

Lars: (grinning)
Maybe! Like the moon landing, but fluffier.

Erik:
Okay, now you’re trolling me.

Lars: (shrugging)
All I’m saying is: life in the tundra is hard. Believing a white reindeer brings luck gives people hope. Maybe that’s worth something—even if it’s not scientifically proven.

Erik: (softens)
Fair enough. Hope is important. But I worry that if we rely on symbols for luck, we might stop taking responsibility for actual causes. Like climate change affecting reindeer migration—that’s not going to be fixed by chasing a rare albino.

Lars:
You make a good point. But if we ever do find one, you’re helping me name it. Deal?

Erik:
Deal. But I’m naming it Statistical Anomaly.

Lars: (laughing and raising his coffee mug)
To Statistical Anomaly—the luckiest reindeer in Norway!

Erik: (clinks mugs)
And may she bring us sensible weather patterns and rational policy change.

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[End Scene]