Jersey Shore and Left Turns

Before I get into "left turns" in the state of New Jersey I must lay out a disclaimer of sorts; I was born and raised in New Jersey and spent 28 years (with the exception of attending college in California and Maryland) here before moving out west first to Las Vegas then to Southern California.

Driving in New Jersey is nothing new to me but after being gone for almost 13 years I must say making a "LEFT TURN" in New Jersey is an experience!!! As we drove to lunch on Wednesday and as I have been driving to the gym everyday I noticed (now this shouldn't be new to me but it was!!) that I couldn't go up to a light and make a left turn at 90% of the intersections. I had to go to a JUG HANDLE (think of a jug and think of the shape of the handle?) make a right hand turn before making a left turn; make sense???

Some of these JUG HANDLES go through residential neighborhoods and it always looks like the road was added after the fact. I don't know why this has bothered me this week because I used to deal with it on a daily basis but having lived in a place where I could make a left hand turn at a traffic light makes life a little easier. I have been a bit unfortunate this week when we were going somewhere and that somewhere is located on the opposite side of the highway; this would mean I would have to make two right hand turns before making a left!! Make sense???

I am not so sure it makes sense to me and I haven't seen anything other place on where they have JUG HANDLES to make left turns. When I have come upon a traffic intersection and I need to make a left hand turn I am always in the right hand lane so for those 10% of the intersections where I could make a left at the traffic light I always miss my turn and subsequently will have to make a few right hand turns down the road to make my left.

For those of you in New Jersey and have lived in New Jersey know exactly what I am writing about but for those of you who have never had the fortune of coming to this great state I am sure you are saying WHAT!!!! It is a little confusing and I don't know why New Jersey has these Jug Handles as well as many circle transitions from one high to another but they do. I am sure it has something to do with it being the most densely populated state. There are more people in the is little state per square mile than any other state in the United States by almost a two to one margin. Maybe this is why I get claustrophobia when I come back.

With that said; this is my birth place and the place where my family will spend the next few years because there are some remarkable people living in this state. Most of these remarkable people are close family members and I know my family will be well cared for while I am "away".

Tonight we had the pleasure of going to the New Jersey Shore are better known in these parts as the "Jersey Shore". It was a place where my mother and father took me when I was a kid along with my sisters. Tonight we took our children, my mother (aka Grandma), my sister (aka Aunt and Mom) and my nieces and nephew. My children had a blast going from one amusement ride to the next amusement ride.

They wore out their older cousins because Daddy (aka me) doesn't go on any of the round and round rides since I turned thirty-five. I don't know what happened to me because before this time I could go on any ride but I went on a simple Tilt-A-Whirl with my then three year old daughter and I thought the world had come to an end. She wanted to spin faster and I just couldn't. I tried one other time with my son and daughter but had a very similar result. I have refrained every since.

We walked up and down the boardwalk; the children ate boardwalk food (aka JUNK) but that was okay because everyone was having a good old time. I had my version of JUNK which was two slices of real pizza. I say real pizza with a very snobby East Coast attitude because pizza here in the New Jersey/New York area is so much better than any other pizza I have encountered in all of the places I have lived. There are exceptions to the rule like the Colorado Style Pizza at my sister's house in Denver but they are few and far between. There are so many pizza joints and every pizza joint is good and even the bad ones far out do Pizza Hut, Dominos and Little Caesars.

As we walked up and down the boardwalk I realized this was a casino for minors. I have always played the games of "chance" in the past but never went overboard like I did with my sportsbetting thus leading to my well documented compulsive gambling addiction. We finished with the amusement rides and all up and down the boardwalk were these games of chance and some of skill (wink, wink, nod, nod!!). Even in the arcades were slot machines which would spit out tickets rather than money and anyone could play these. I can see how someone of a very young age could get hooked quite quickly.

I had a conversation with my eight year old daughter after we ate dinner explaining to her that all of these games were a form of gambling. I didn't label as bad or good I was just giving her my definition. She seemed to understand by her comments which were no it is not gambling I am trying to win something! I told her that is exactly right but it is gambling because sometimes you win but most times you lose.

The conversation progressed a bit further when I brought up Poker which some of my daughter's second grade classmates play and when she heard the word Poker she instantly said; "Now that is gambling." She was correct and I didn't stop either one of them from playing; they had their own money and they did win a few items. I of course had to abstain from any of the games because all though it was not my so called forte to play these games I don't want to sabotage my recovery by playing some stupid arcade game and have me thinking I am CURED.

There is no cure for me; the only cure for me is to stay in recovery which means to not gamble and be a better person. Tonight I had a great time with everyone because I did not gamble and I enjoyed every moment with my family. I am so very happy to have been given this time to experience these little moments and to be a part of my family. I know my time is now limited and I will take with me so very blessed moments and look forward to many more as long as I continue in my recovery.

Here are two stories in regards to compulsive gambling. The first story has a very interesting last paragraph and it is another story in the long lines of stories which detail where this horrible addiction can take people. The second story is one I read yesterday and I thought it was very poignant. It is from a local New Jersey paper and it is an editorial on the down-side of gambling.