I Went...But I Did Not Bet

 We live about twenty minutes from the Idaho border. I love Idaho. It's where my mom was born and my parents were raised. Growing up I spent many a summer's day enjoying Idaho. It's beautiful and full of (mostly...) friendly and interesting people. I only say "mostly" because no place is completely devoid of unfriendly and uninteresting people. It's close, though.

Idaho also has somethings Utah does not. We don't have a university football field painted blue. We don't have the words "Famous Potatoes" on our license plates (unless they're custom...), and we don't have legalized gambling.

For some, that's a shame. For me...heck, I'm glad. Then again, I'm not a gambler. I'm also very grateful I'm not.

I think I could enjoy gambling if I had a lot of money to waste, and by "a lot" I mean, a lot...like millions. I'd have to have enough money that if I lost it, it wouldn't matter. Sure, I've thrown a coin or two into a slot machine and in my life, I've probably broke even, give or take twenty bucks. I can see why people enjoy it. I can even think it could be fun--people spend more money on "fun" things all the time. It's just never been something I'm willing to risk to experience that fun. And, we all know how destructive gambling can be, also.

Also, having little with which to gamble helps make the decision not to gamble easy for me.

My son and I drove to Idaho, interestingly enough, to cash in on a lottery ticket someone bought for him. They bought other tickets as well, but my son's was the only one that hit. He won a whopping four bucks, which turned into eight at the window. Based on the distance from our house to Idaho, we just about broke even on the gas to get us there and back. 

Inside the small gas station there were two sides, half contained the normal things found in a gas station/convenience store...munchies, drinks, even liquor (another thing not found in Utah gas stations/convenience stores...). But, the other half was dedicated to gambling. They even had an employee behind the till for the gamblers, not the munchie-eaters or the liquor-buyers. It was quite an operation.

And this was just one little gas station in the entire state.

I don't know if my son will become a gambler. He might, as might any of my kids. They're free to make those decisions for themselves. But, I hope I've had an impact and they choose not to take up the habit...

Unless, they become millionaires.