Sensationalism?

It appears the tooth fairy was listening to my daughter when she remarked, "I hope I don't get another one dollar". The tooth fairy visited my daughter last night and left behind a fifty cent piece the one with John F. Kennedy on the front. My daughter came running into our bedroom early this morning and with those bright eyes proclaimed, "the tooth fairy came and I didn't get a one dollar, I got a half dollar". She was so excited to have the shiny half dollar that she promptly showed it to my wife and me. My son (of course he has to get into the act!) was in our bedroom at the same time as my daughter and wanted to see the half dollar and he told his sister he was happy she got a fifty cent piece instead of a one dollar. Children, what was life like without them? Frankly I don't remember and I do know it is so much more fulfilling now more than it has ever been.

Does the media sensationalize most stories? I think the easy answer is yes. Sensationalism like sex sells. Read this headline then read the entire story. Is this really the case or is it just more sensationalism? It appears this lady will receive four years of incarceration and 11 years of being on the watchful eye of the state of Wisconsin. I find it interesting that the judge actually referred most embezzlements to gambling and drug addictions along with some type of family crisis. I am still thinking about the lady from Wisconsin who embezzled $520,000 and received ten years. It seemed to me she was going to be in prison for ten years even though she had no prior arrests and had a compulsive gambling addiction. I guess justice is arbitrary and it really does depend on the judge.

Here is another story from Australia. Every three weeks one person commits suicide due to a compulsive gambling addiction. This also doesn't take into account those that have tried to commit suicide due to their gambling addiction but failed. I have not seen a study like this published in the United States. There is a great deal of money in legalized gambling in the United States and these corporations and tribes are very powerful so we may never see a study like this performed in this country.

How many people have been to Las Vegas and watched the local news and seen a suicide reported? I can tell you I lived there for 8 years and I can remember one such incident and that involved a shooting in a casino which led the gunman to kill themselves. This happened in broad daylight so it was very difficult to sensor it. Even the local newspaper in Las Vegas doesn't report these suicides and if they do they are on page 12 or 13 not the front page.

I worked for three hotels and casinos in Las Vegas covering 8 years and I know of at least a dozen suicides and many more attempted suicides either due to gambling or alcohol. It is a lethal combination of gambling and alcohol and mix in desperation and you have the very dark side of gambling. Even though all of this was swirling around me I never took the opportunity to look at myself and see the destruction I was also doing.

Denial is a very strong emotion and some people chose to live it in their entire lives. I on the other hand have finally broken down my wall of denial and I am living in honest self-awareness. I can be the person I am intended to be not the fraud I turned into, with openness and honest self-awareness the true purpose of my life is being achieved one day at a time.