Last night, I went out and was immediately freaked out by lights in the sky. It took me a minute to remember that it was the grand opening of a new slot machine casino in town, and that they’d hired searchlights to make it seem like a really good thing.
I’m not opposed to gambling. I don’t gamble except for the "it’s a world record powerball, so let’s get a ticket" type of gambling, and if people want to throw their money away, who am I to stop them? My MIL was really excited that slot machines were coming to town, though, which also sort of depresses me. We work too hard for our money to give it away like that, but hell, she hasn’t worked in 20 years or more. Why not spend the SSI on some nickel slots?
It was on the evening news, and there’s an article in the paper today. People started lining up at 6am for the 10am opening yesterday. Ugh. There was a woman on the news who was really excited that the casino was here, finally, because she loved slot machines (I mean, seriously? At least when I put money in a vending machine I end up with Cheetos.) but then she sort of added, with a nervous smile, that she "hoped she didn’t come too often. I hope I can control myself." Oh, that is so not good. That on the first day you’re wondering if you can control your gambling.
People gamble all the time, Bingo is gambling, the lottery is gambling, even raffle tickets are gambling. But this is just . .. different. It makes me a little sad, especially when the target demographic is retired people.
To me, it’s one thing to go to Vegas and drop a nickel in a poker machine (which I did, and won 60 bucks while waiting for the Wayne Newton show) because there’s other stuff going on. There’s great people watching, there are shows, there are lots of free attractions, the weather is nice, it’s interesting. A windowless room filled with slot machines in a former buffet restaurant is just . . . creepy. They pitched it as being part of a plan to revitalize horse racing, but the facility is several blocks from the track.
I won’t ever go, but I worry about the people that will. I worry about that woman on the news who’s already worried about being too close to temptation.
granted, I have a person interest in other people’s gambling, but I think that there isn’t a huge difference between putting those quarters into a big mac and putting them into a slot machine. honestly, that’s the one place where I don’t feel like society has to protect people from themselves. For the most part. there’s always the caveat, of course. But in general, people gamble and people enjoy gambling. At least their quarters might go into improving education, housing, healthcare, and quality of life for another group of people. Would it help to consider the gambling proceeds as charitable contributions? I can attribute a lot of my higher education directly to other people’s gambling dollars, so it doesn’t ALL get sucked into a amoral, value-poor void.