The Winning Hand: West End Times Article - August 22, 2009
Youth gambling. Young smokers. Teen pregnancy. Underage drinking.
Houston, we have a problem. Houston, we have many problems.
What more has to happen?
How many more kids have to get into trouble?
How many more of our world’s "future” have to become school dropouts, before we figure it out?
Thank G-D this is only an article, and I cannot scream, because, if I could, these words and the font they are written in, would be as big as the King Of Clubs himself! We were taught as kids to take the Jokers out of a deck of cards. Now I know where they all are...WORKING IN THE GOVERNMENT dressed as bureaucrats, and disguised as taxpayer paid employees. UUGGHH!!
A kid goes into a convenience store to buy a quart of milk (showing my age, huh?) and is asked if he would like a 6/49 ticket with that.
Then the kid gets into his little Honda and listens to the radio, and he hears the Loto results.
When he gets home, and opens the daily newspaper and reads about his fave sports team, he sees the spread on the night’s game, and who the favourite teams are. 9 to 5...2 to 1...6 to 5...Man, in my day, those were the hours a part-time job was offering.
Today, a kid has to be good in math to figure out if the Jets are SUPPOSED to beat the Pats, or if they don’t, and just cover the spread, can he still make money? Huh?
Youth gambling. It must be Latin for "gambling is everywhere", and not “wait till your folks take you to Atlantic City for your 18th birthday”; another brilliant move parents do, and offer their kids as an entitlement when of legal age, which is just ANOTHER way of saying “now you are old enough to lose money on your own, and develop an addiction. Bonne chance and good luck!”
Do you , dear reader, detect a hint of sarcasm?
Youth gambling is just another way of turning more blind eyes the other way, as we the adults still like to think of the world of gaming as a sexy, glamorous and enticing, mindless sport, but forget that OUR YOUTH, OUR KID, .OUR LITTLE JOHNNY'S AND SALLY'S, are watching with bulging eyes!
Gaming has been portrayed as a somewhat healthy pastime that can possibly change your life with its chances of winning; Sort of like buying flood insurance or hurricane insurance, and having the salesman tell you, "you gotta have it..."
I am not going to bore you with stats, numbers of all kinds, scientific data that will put you to sleep faster than Nyquil...but I will tell you that having our youth watch poker on television, buying Mise-O-Jeux at the store or sneaking into the casino when his/her age isn't quite ripe yet, isn't the best example we can show to them.
Youth gambling. It’s wrong and must be stopped. Watchdogs must be put in place. Our government should be ashamed. But then again, these are the same guys that have a department called THE LANGUAGE POLICE. Oy!! or should I say...Mon Dieu!!
