Lookism - Chapter 87

To be honest you see a lot of this happening in gambling towns. I used to work in one as an account manager. A casino is required to report any behavior that is considered self damaging, and ban a person from the property, but by the time you can catch it, it’s usually too late. In other cases, the person recognizes they have a problem and request to be banned. People putting up their houses as collateral in home equity loans and gambling it all away, using the kids’ tuition money trying to strike it big, etc. Most of my interactions with players were positive; there were a lot of winners. When the losers started piling up that would gamble their lives away to the point of bankruptcy, I left that industry because I didn’t feel right after witnessing what it did to those people.

After his father passed away, a friend of mine inherited his bar, and made the mistake of letting his mom, who was a gambling addict, manage the books while he ran his own business, because his mom and dad used to work together as a couple, so she knew the place in and out. Utilities, deliveries, mortgage on the property, and other things went unpaid, and my friend was forced to sell the bar in order to break even. He had his own business doing car restorations, so he didn’t hurt for money, but the bar was all that was left of his dad’s blood, sweat and tears. It was also our favorite place for drinks and pool (a.k.a. billiards) after work.

And then it was gone. The bar didn’t feel the same after the guy next door, who owned a pizzeria, bought, renovated and re-opened it. It’s like the magic died with the sale of the place.

Gosh this was a long post. Kudos and thanks to those that bothered to read it.