Economic Relief
There are only so many times a person can compare bean prices without a break; can drive 14 hours to see granny; can wash a sweater in cold water instead of sending it to the dry cleaners; can climb a tall ladder; can explain that you flew to a rich place using frequent flier miles; can feel embarrassed about going to Colorado, saying that you went down a couple of hills on cardboard boxes and came home.
There's only so long a person can cut back without a break.
Too much sudden cutting back can give a person anything from a fat head to fat arteries, anything from depression to bigness. Here's something that is recession-resistant: chocolate.
So what's the answer to too much cutting back? What's the relief? Where's the occasional recess period?
Gambling.
Gambling is underrated. That's because abusive gambling makes for good reading, and good television, good rehab; and it makes for bad personas and relationships. But good gambling fulfills some basic human needs — the desires to create, to take a chance, to take a break, to make a dollar. There's good and bad everything, from cholesterol to excitement. And what's not a gamble? Not much. My friend's two-year old gambles that he can get away with smacking his brother. Eating green is a gamble. Ever hear of funny spray? Travel is a gamble. The stock market is worse than a gamble. The stock market is full of souped-up day traders, book jugglers and crooks.
What's the best gamble as a brief respite from the pounding from the economy? Wagering a little something. What's the best bet?
It's not in a casino, that's a sure thing. Casinos are among the most depressing places going nowhere. Ducking from a sour economy into a dour casino offers no appreciable change of atmosphere. The chief problem with casinos when it comes to a break from cutting back is psychological. Winning doesn't seem to matter much in a casino. Somebody hits for $600 on a slot, there's no change of expression, just more spinning. That's because the person hitting for $600 is down $900, or knows he or she will be there soon. You're watched in a casino. Celebrating could get you cuffed.
Betting on a sports team is a solitary undertaking. Relief from cutting back should be more social. The profile of a sports bettor is of someone alone at home, praying that the Lord will bless his side picked by a coin toss, looking away from the game on the screen, afraid to watch.
The best break from cutting back is a trip to the horse races, either at a live meet, or at a simulcast venue, characters welcome at either location.
There's nothing funny about a lame economy, or living on a budget.
There's a lot to laugh at, at the horse races.
If you lose thousands of dollars by an inch when numerous things go against you in an instant, and you want to come back and have it happen again, you have to find a way to smile.
From an investment perspective, all the numbers at the horse races show up right there in front of you on the tote board.
One recent evening, after the stock market dropped a couple or three hundred points, I stopped at the simulcast races with $48 for a beer and a Form and a smile, and a friend and I caught a first-time gelding, first-time gelded, to be precise. I will absolutely write more about this unique racing experience soon, because first-time anything at the track can result in a change for the more profitable.
And talk about change, imagine a horse going into the gate, first-time gelded.
He is apt to think: Might as well run, there's nothing else to do.
Information about a recent gelding procedure is not always in the Form and is sometimes announced, like a jockey change, or like a car with its headlights left on in the parking lot. So you have to pay attention.
Owners are slow to geld for two obvious reasons: dollars and cents.
The first-time gelded horse showed speed. To be honest, who wouldn't. He probably wondered what they might remove next, if he didn't run. He went off at 10-1 and won by about ten; here's to you, pal.
Outside the unreal world circled.
Write to Jay at jaycronley@yahoo.com.
