Neferti~ wrote:One thing I have never been interested in is playing the pokies. I don't even buy a lottery ticket. One of my sisters was a gambler, I was with her one day when we went to a Club for lunch ... I saw her put through $500! She asked me why I wasn't playing (and that I should to keep her company), so I looked in my purse and I had 2 x $2 coins so I put those through and played with what dropped out ... that was it. She then told all and sundry that I was the last of the big spenders and had only put $4 though the pokies. Oh, she bet on the horses as well. Stupid waste of money!
Most of the people you see sitting at the poker machines are the Oldies, losing their Pension down the damn things.
Also in the 90s I worked with a guy whose wife (a Nurse) had wasted $17,000 in a few weeks on the pokies ... he showed me his Bank Statement which listed all the money she had used at a certain Club. He ended up divorcing her. $17,000 is not to be sneezed at .... how sad.
Hey Nef
One of our tenants came up to us recently. She wanted to explain the reason behind why she had given us notice.
NB This lady was in her mid 60's....an English/Aussie, elegant, hard working professional and intelligent, gorgeous Christian woman and ideal long term, clean/ tidy tenant.
So, we sat in the kitchen and over a cup of tea....she quietly broke down and spilled her woes.
Her marriage of 40 odd years was suddenly over.
She was broke. Her job was still ok....but given her age...for how long?
Her (now estranged) husband had gambled EVERYTHING they had...on the pokies.
All her savings were gone. Even her jewellery had been pawned without her knowledge.
The ultimate betrayal though was when she broke the news to their only child.....a son who was struggling with a heavy mortgage and a young family. Her son came clean about all the money he had given his dad behind his wife's back. Why? His dad would come up with sob stories about sudden and non existent medical bills.
What a terrible situation!
I told her that we intend to support her in her hour of need.
We'll help her move when she's ready and make sure she's ok.
In thanking me, she mentioned how she was now on anti depressants.....and that she had felt suicidal.
Sometimes rental returns need to take a back seat.
I believe this is one of those times.