Casinos are a bad call for good Valley values

By LILIANA GARCIA

Casinos are a means of entertainment for many, but gambling is not only entertainment — it’s an addiction. Gamblers become addicted to casinos, often trying to escape everyday life.

I don't enjoy gambling. I don't enjoy the smoke and the crowdedness of the slots. I don't even have to walk into a casino to already want to go home. Before I’d caved into going to the casino with a friend for a little while, I already knew what was in store. I knew I wouldn't enjoy myself. How could I?

Some see the colorful machines offering a chance to win thousands of dollars. I see people sitting between two machines, eagerly inserting money into both of them. There is tension between them and anyone who seems threatening.

Men and women pull out what seems to be their entire salary from their pockets.

I begin to think of how much of that money is actually disposable income. How many hours have they been there? How much money will they lose before they have to go home?

Casinos are the perfect scam. Yes, scam. It is too easy to whither away your savings account, paycheck or disposable income into a machine.

Casinos are so popular because they don't discriminate. There are no language barriers; the machines clearly let gamblers know how much money is needed to play.

Seeing all ethnicities in the casino is even more worrisome.

I see labor workers still in their work clothing loading $20 bills into the machines. I doubt they’ve had budgeting classes.

At this point I want to scream, “Put your money back in your pockets. Please go home. Purchase groceries, rent a movie, start a savings account, invest in something.”

But please stop throwing your money away, please.

There are other means of entertainment. It seems that casinos fill with lower-income individuals.

How fun is it to come home after a couple of hours empty handed? I doubt people come home after a couple of hours saying it was worth blowing their entire paycheck for a couple of hours of entertainment.
Although I am aware the earnings from casinos on Native American reservations help their tribe members, I am not so sure that it really is helping. They might be a necessary evil, but I don't see how having these establishments to support tribes is correct. Is funding a casino that leads to addictions, poverty and sometimes self-destruction morally right? Is it OK to help some people at the cost of others?

There may be no easy way to remedy the situation, but perhaps the government can start somewhere.

The government should force casinos to close at a certain hour. Do people need to have access to a money trash can 24 hours a day? No. What sane individual with disposable money to spend gambles at 3 or 4 in the morning?

It is a fact that gambling can become an addiction, just like alcohol. So why isn’t the government making casinos close their doors at 2 a.m.?

Tribe members may not want the government governing their casinos, but it needs to be done. Sure, the government stole land from Native Americans, but must our entire society be plagued with the ugliness of 3 a.m. gambling?

I just want casinos to understand that just because they can stay open 24 hours a day doesn’t mean they should. It is time to realize that small towns don’t benefit from having casinos remain open every hour, 365 days a year.