Dear Friends,
On the weekend, while I was obsessing over the healthiest menu for my children and grandchildren,
maneuvering my heavy buggy with one hand, choreographing my umbrella in the
air with the other, my eyes caught the headline of a local publication, TORONTO CASINO COULD GENERATE JOBS.
I totally agree. Aside from the obvious manpower necessary to build and run such an establishment, income opportunities are endless. As a devastated mother of a gambler, let me count the job openings: more loan sharks, more social workers, yogis and meditators to help gamblers and their families cope with the ravages of such addiction, more marriage counsellors to patch things up between spouses, more psychiatrists to tell gamblers, their addiction is not really their parents’ fault.
I totally agree. Aside from the obvious manpower necessary to build and run such an establishment, income opportunities are endless. As a devastated mother of a gambler, let me count the job openings: more loan sharks, more social workers, yogis and meditators to help gamblers and their families cope with the ravages of such addiction, more marriage counsellors to patch things up between spouses, more psychiatrists to tell gamblers, their addiction is not really their parents’ fault.
All these newly hired people
need furnished offices, computers, phones, stationary, ink, coffee, transportation and
lunch.
Wow! Imagine, one poor addict
generates so much income for others, from the construction site of the casino
to the offices of CAMH to the deli.
How dare we look down on
them? In the old country they call them society’s parasites!
As if the “stimulating”
commercials on TV were not enough, now the propaganda for gambling has become
an economic factor in print. "A once in a generation opportunity," Godfrey, the chairman of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, calls it!
Paying off loan sharks and going to support group therapy has certainly been a once in a lifetime experience for me! What’s a bleeding heart of another mother, father, sibling, spouse or offspring, in comparison to the prosperity of a city?
Paying off loan sharks and going to support group therapy has certainly been a once in a lifetime experience for me! What’s a bleeding heart of another mother, father, sibling, spouse or offspring, in comparison to the prosperity of a city?
I know, I know, just because
some cannot keep it under control, others shouldn’t be deprived of thrills of
gambling, or for that matter, euphoria of drinking. However, cigarettes have
been off the air and shelves, for a while now. Maybe the government hasn’t
realized yet that other addictions cost the taxpayers, as well. Lately, the government has
developed funny ways of making or saving money. First, it makes money off of
its addicts, then rehabilitates them for free. First, it withholds funds from services
that keep kids off the street then, a few years later, prosecutes or defends them in court; rooms
and boards them in jail.
Can’t we skip the drama in-between saving and reallocating and invest in the moment?
Can’t we skip the drama in-between saving and reallocating and invest in the moment?
I say, we live in cruelly funny times -
accepted and filed.
What have you accepted and
filed, today?
This is the second time I'm doing this...I'm a slow learner!
ReplyDeleteLife presents many temptations but we can only do what is right for us. Others may choose a different path, but we are not to blame. I know we want the best for our kids but can't spare them all the pain. Perhaps God has a plan for all of us. Our plan is to love and nurture our little ones at school, others at times do the same with our boys. K.