Featured Letter: No reason to panic when storm approaches
To the editor:
Here we go again! Whether it is an unprecedented storm approaching, a deadly disease being sold to us, or the Powerball lottery, the media covers every angle and mass hysteria takes over. As early as last week we were told that a big snowstorm would hit us on Jan. 23 and folks hit the box stores for shovels, ice melt, milk, eggs and meat. What people don’t realize is that this is the way the economy works; they are falling into a trap of spending money just because of the fear of not having enough — either of food or equipment for removing snow.
We were being urged to buy a lottery ticket recently and many people bought Powerball tickets who never did so before because they were duped into it. This IS mass hysteria! And it is gambling. My great-grandfather George Henry Tuthill would be shocked beyond belief to come back and see this accepted way of living.
Last week I went to a Bingo game at the American Legion Hall with my son Richard, who lives in Texas. Sure, I’ve played Bingo with the kids, but never in a hall with big money. As we sat at the long table with our pile of colorful printed papers before us, we watched the hopeful participants amble in and take their places and I felt that I was in a den of iniquity. It was evident that most of the ladies were “regulars” and carried their blue, green, turquoise and yellow markers in special carrying cases.
It was all new to us and we needed an explanation of each game before it began.
Altogether, we spent $48 for the afternoon and the excitement of almost winning. While I enjoyed the pounding excitement waiting for the caller to say “G 71” for my win, it was a disappointment that ended the day.
Needless to say, I did not buy a Powerball ticket and therefore I did not follow the long line of losers who filled the golden pot with more money than any winner could use or enjoy. Is a lotto winner ever happy in the end? I truly doubt it because it brings with it other problems of fear, change, distrust, indecision and envy. I am reminded of: “The love of money is the root of all evil.” Note: It is the LOVE of money — not the money itself — that is the root of all evil.
June Bassemir, Riverhead
