Game Rooms/Internet Cafes

Some nasty inconsiderate jerk complained about our game rooms here in mid Florida so the police shut them down again.  Yup, that's all it takes is for one ass to decide no-one should be doing what they don't want to do and we, the majority, lose out on an innocent entertainment.  Of course, the laws need to be changed to make the game rooms legal but that could take forever.  The big casinos don't want them because they're competition for them.

One of the pleasures I look forward to when I come to Florida is that I can gamble at these game rooms instead of the huge casino.  I don't go to bars or race tracks (except the dog track).  I don't smoke and rarely drink so doing a bit of gambling is fun for me.  I hate it that a few people (or even one) who frown on gambling can use their influence to deprive those of us who like it.  

Somehow, the game rooms all seem to reopen after a few months of inactivity by using a loophole in the law.  Why they can never seem to stay open under that loophole is a mystery to me.  I equate these almost illegal game rooms with the almost illegal pot stores.  Police tolerate them because the majority of the citizens want them but have to act and shut them down when that one jerk makes a complaint.  I bet that one jerk has vices that make our gambling look pretty innocent.  

It's quite cool today but the sun is shining brightly.  I'm meeting Shelley and John, Nicole and Sam for lunch at some fancy shmancy restaurant in Kissimmee.  When I think about not wanting to spend so many months here in Florida, I have to think again how wonderful it is to be so close to Shelley and able to see her often.  I've been fretting about the loss of so many close friends here but there are still a few who make my days very happy ones.  I'm so very grateful for the almost 20 years I got to spend my winters in Florida and the truly wonderful friends I've made here.  It's just that I hate to lose a single one of them!

And so today I'll bundle up a bit...high about 60F...and head off to have a marvelous lunch with my Florida family.  How did I get so lucky?