Observations

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I stopped over night at the Turning Stone casino near Oneida, New York.

I didn’t do any more gaming other than what I said yesterday about a roulette number.

In the morning I went to cash in the players electronic card that I did not use.

I had to walk through the casino to the cashier. What I observed was a sad mixture of Americana persona. The old, both ambulatory and in walkers, the obese and the thin, the poor dressed and other poor dressed, those in shorts and tank tops, stained tee shirts and what really was offensive was the smoke.

The odor of stale and fresh smoke, for me who does not smoke, was gagging. The smoking policy alone of all casinos is enough for me to never visit a casino again.

I’m sure the management will lament my loss.

I might go to a place in a casino if it had a separate room when non-smokers could play at a few tables. I also wondered about the long-term effects of smoke inhalation on the casino employees who do not smoke.

I sensed sadness while walking through the gaming tables to the cashier cage. There was an aura of hope on every player. With every button bet of the gaming machine there was the expectation of riches as the machine played music. These tones seemed to be their individual way of securing a financial future.

In some small way I wanted to shout out there are other choices in which to live life. But then again, life is also a delightful gamble and maybe that’s enough.