Forum Archive Index - March 2004

["David & Jill Stevenson" <djstevo@quicksilver.net.nz>]

At the RSA I frequent  both poker machines and players were once in full view of Bar traffic and those seated .Now for unexplained reason they are housed in a separate room away from view . Almost as though they were in a terminal cancer ward . Quarantined so others did not have to view their mechanical movements and later desparate fumbling for that last coin somewhere at the bottom of their purse/pocket . You remember the coin  - the particular one that is going to turn their luck !  

         Society conveniently looks the other way in so many aspects of our lives. .Call a spade a spade it has no other name !

 

   I remember elsewhere and othertimes a guy who worked hard for what little he earned . It was not in New Zealand . On payday he transferred his pay into six packets.

I remember them headed individually Gas, power, petrol ,clothing, groceries and entertainment . He would start on the latter to feed the poker machine . The last to be fed in was groceries ( he did not have one for contingencies) .

   It was a small club. I came into the room when he thought everyone was upstairs watching a movie . Chris had the poker machine, detached in his arms frantically  shaking it trying to  recover his money as though it was some grotesque money box . He was near tears, for a big man, insanely hoping beyond hope that at least his grocery money for family and children  would miraculously emerge..

  No amount of counselling worked on Chris . He is probably still at it but at least his family will not be there to witness the utter futility. I realise this post will be regarded as cheap emotive stuff . But life is full of anecdotes.

 

                                David Stevenson