The Random Comic Strip

The Random Comic Strip

Words to live by...

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and to rest afterward."

[Spanish Proverb]

Ius luxuriae publice datum est

(The right to looseness has been officially given)

"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle."

Apparently, the crossword puzzle that disappeared from the blog, came back.


Monday, September 3, 2012

A flip of a coin, a spin of the wheel,a turn of a card...


Life is a gamble, isn't it? You work hard, eat right, exercise... and, in the end, you get cancer, or Alzheimer's, or get hit by a texting teen while having lunch at a sidewalk cafe. Ok, the odds are pretty much in your favor that none of those will happen to you. But that doesn't stop the ads, does it?

I was thinking about this as I drove toward Biloxi once again on Sunday. And why was I heading for Biloxi? Because my raison d'ĂȘtre desired it. And, as any husband who has survived 25 years of marriage to the same woman will tell you, keeping the "boss" happy is the smartest thing you can do. We do not discuss these trips, we do not debate them, we just take them.

I, of course, will not do anything more than token gambling. Instead, I will play a couple of rounds of golf, play endless games on my laptop, and do some reading. I find gambling in casinos somewhat boring. It is not exciting to lose money. I do not feel the thrill even when I win (a rare enough occasion). It's not that I don't appreciate the adrenalin rush when a risk plays out to my benefit, it's that I do not like the downer that hits when the risk doesn't play out to my benefit.

We know that gambling is often seen as an addiction. In truth, it isn't. But it is the nature of humans to turn it into one. And not all humans. The vast majority of us do not gamble with our money. We seek safe places for it, we try to invest it wisely, we try to be careful how we spend it. But some of us, a relative handful of the population, let it control their lives.

Faye isn't one of those but I am glad we do not live in Las Vegas, Reno, or Biloxi... or any other city with casinos. I think it helps to be at least an hour's drive from the nearest row of slot machines. I don't believe she would let it take over her life (and, by extension, mine) but... it's best to not have the temptation nearby.

3 comments:

Tom Sightings said...

I do some gambling myself ... in the stock market. Not a lot, b/c I don't want to lose my shirt, but when I get a hankering I go to Wall St. where, at least in my opinion, the odds are better than they are in Vegas or Mississippi.

Douglas4517 said...

The stock market isn't even rational.

Tom Sightings said...

Exactly, it's a game of chance