Gambling Costs You More Than Just Money

When my daughter had just turned 21, she and a longtime schoolmate and girlfriend decided they wanted to experience the bright lights, action and excitement of Reno, Nev. They had grandiose plans to become dealers in a casino there and make big money. They got their first jobs with the Comstock Casino, right in the heart of downtown, where they dealt blackjack.

But it was only a short time before the glamour had worn off - standing on your feet all night and working for minimum wage, plus tips, which occasionally were pretty good but not something you could count on to pay your bills.

Within the first six months of her employment, my daughter had customers spit at her, pull her hair, kick her, slap at her and throw drinks in her face, not to mention the verbal abuse. Winning or losing, people become emotional when it comes to money.

While working at the casino, my daughter met her future husband, a Reno police sergeant whose beat was the Virginia Street area downtown. Some of the stories he related to her were pathetic: children found frozen to death in a car parked outside a casino in the cold of winter, or children suffocating when left to sleep in the car in the summer while their mom and/or dad ran in for a quick game.

Gambling is a disease just as damaging as alcoholism to a home and family. It does not unite or keep families intact. It destroys.

After several years of working in Reno, my daughter developed her own propensity for poker machines. I never asked - nor do I want to know - the amount of money she lost. It was certainly a lot more than she ever won.

Some years after their marriage, my daughter and son-in-law decided Reno just was not the place for them. They had the sense to realize how damaging the gambling addiction could be to them, to their home and their life.

My son-in-law found employment in the Spokane area. They purchased a home and began a new life that has been much more than it ever could have been in the previous atmosphere. Their income is probably only three-fourths of what they made annually in Reno, but they have a nicer home, live comfortably and are very happy and content.

So, when I hear people advocate an Indian casino in the Airway Heights area, I say thanks but no thanks. Life is good just the way it is.

MEMO: “Your turn” is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a “Your turn” column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write “Your turn,” The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane 99210-1615.