Originally Posted by
Dahon.Steve
I once spent an hour in an OTB (Off Track Betting) to see how life in the other side lived. It was the most depressing hour of my life.
Yeah, every now and then my wife and I may venture into a casino to use the restroom and get a big dose of "I'm glad I'm me". Very sad, zoned out looking people mesmerized by slot machines, sitting or standing in a haze of second-hand smoke amongst a surreal cacophony of bells, buzzers, and jingles. No windows or clocks in sight. If that's not depressing enough, leaving the casino rides us past a gauntlet of pawn shops.
The only bright side is that "casino people" are going to squander their money somehow anyway - be it Meth or Church collections. (Two extremes I guess that don't collect taxes). At least the tax money generated by legit gambling helps the state pave roads and improve schools. Theoretically anyway.
We have OTB here too. I have not ventured into one of those places yet. I do spend Thanksgiving day at the Fairgrounds (actual horses racing) opening day when the place is packed with "normal" people and the food spread is freaking awesome! Tradition has a group of us meeting there each year and a great excuse to dodge boring family "obligations" eating way too much and watching football on TV. Oh...and being annoyed by family members of course.