Lost Paradise

There is nothing dull about life...

Disappointing maybe, but definitely not dull. After more than seven decades of living, I am finally starting to recognize the problems God faced when He created an earthly paradise and expected people to enjoy all the benefits that were available to them.

While some people appreciated this earthly gift, others didn't. It seems like they went out of their way to turn paradise into hell.

The Internet is a good example of what I am talking about. I often read articles on the major news networks and if the article interests me, I will go to the comments section and leave my thought on the theme of the story, like many people do.

There was a story about a 10-year-old girl...

...named Samantha who decided she wanted to sell cookies to earn money to buy her school clothes. Her mother baked the cookies for her and she went through her neighborhood selling cookies and water to customers.

Lo and behold...

...some of the neighbors were offended by that. Three of them called the police to report it. Fox News filed a story about the police calls and people began leaving comments on the stories. Some of the comments are unbelievable. I never realized there were so many hateful people in America.

One person said the mother was 'forcing' her daughter to sell the cookies when the exact opposite is true. Samantha told Fox News she wanted to learn to be a baker and this experience was helping her. Another suggested the mother be arrested.

I remember reading Lewis Carroll's 'Alice In Wonderland.' This fairytale painted a world where things were upside down -- black was white, white was black, and nothing was as it seemed to be. This, unfortunately, is where the world is today.

Fake news seems to be the order of the day.

This seeps over into the casino business. Instead of providing their customers with skill games that give their customers a real chance to win, casino technicians work overtime to create games that swindle the customers and give them a very small chance of winning, especially at the slot machines and table games.

Some casino owners are fair and make certain their machines give a reasonable payback to the people who come through their doors. Others don't and their customers have a very limited chance of leaving with more money than they entered with.

People are begging to wise up to what is going on...

They are seeking out the casinos that give a better payback and are avoiding the ones that are greedy. My brother, Legs, is one of those people. He loves the slots but has noticed a drop in what he can win at The Meadows, a casino in Washington, PA. He doesn't go there nearly as often as he used to and the casino management is trying to lure him and other customers back with offers of free slot machine play and other perks.

Legs isn't falling for their phony offers and I hope his fellow slot players are also rebelling.

Paradise is real but people need to avoid falling for the false hopes provided by people who are trying to scam them.

The Internet was a great invention and an incredible device to give the world more knowledge and a greater way to communicate with one another. Let's not destroy it.