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Life’s a big enough gamble; don’t roll the dice
Hoosier Park Racing and Casino has been having a little trouble and recently filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Are they really all that surprised that people don’t feel much like gambling lately? Let’s face it, every day is a gamble. It’s difficult enough to come by a dollar. Why would anyone want to throw it in a machine, pull a lever, and watch their dollar evaporate in a blaze of flashing lights?
I’m not much of a gambler. I like for everything to be simple, easy, and smooth; a place for everything and everything in its place and that includes my money in my pocket, where it belongs.
I don’t gamble with life either. Those days are behind me. I was a little more adventurous in my youth — just a little — back when I was invincible and nothing could hurt me. But now that youth and ignorance have eluded me, and I’m a semi-occasionally respectable, middle-aged adult with a job, a husband, a house, and 2.3 kids, I like for things to run smoothly. I like organization. I like lists. I like routine. I like knowing that everyone and everything is as it should be. In other words, I like it when nothing exciting is happening and, when all is calm, I am not apt to roll the dice.
Unfortunately, the luxury of “nothingness” rarely happens. I’ve tried to nail down exactly why it doesn’t happen, and I finally figured out it must be because I am a semi-occasionally respectable, middle-aged adult with a job, a husband, a house, and 2.3 kids. Thus, someone or something is always throwing a wrench into my well-oiled plans. Just waking up in the morning is a gamble.
I open my eyes with trepidation, never knowing what kind of hand fate has decided to deal me for the day; someone wants breakfast, someone spilled breakfast, someone threw-up breakfast, someone has wrinkled clothes that need ironed, someone forgot a permission slip, someone needs a ride to school, emergency supplies from the store are required, a five-page report and four-dimensional diorama is due, or maybe a full-scale model of the Roman Empire (fifth-grade homework is really hard these days). And that’s just within the first half hour.
After that, the dealer keeps throwing cards at me all day and frankly, aside from an occasional game of solitaire, I have no idea how to play. Half the time I close my eyes and throw a card at random, just playing the odds; in other words, gambling.
Marriage is a gamble. Raising kids is a gamble. Owning property is a gamble. Driving is a gamble. These days, simple things such as shaking hands and just taking a breath are a gamble.
The point is, life is a gamble whether you want it to be or not. Why intentionally complicate matters by rolling the dice on purpose?
So I don’t mind saying goodbye to Hoosier Park. In a world where every waking moment is a gamble anyway, why risk it for a few flashing lights and a couple of coins?
Honestly, I hope the rest of the gambling houses fall into similar straights. But considering the odds, I wouldn’t bet on it.
— Rebecca Todd is the author of a soon-to-be-released eBook titled “What’s the Point?” Contact her at btodd@tds.net.
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