CLUELESS REBEL

You Can't Turn Back Time

     No prize gambling is extremely common yet most people don't even know they partake in it all the time. By the time they do realize they did it is often too late as they watch their lives crumble before their very eyes. This is really tragic after all it would have only took a few moments of fore thought and none of the tragedy would have happened.., but you can't turn back time....

     So what is no prize gambling? Well basically it is gambling where every thing is reversed. In normal gambling if you win the prize is often huge but if you lose the loss is often very little. IE: a three dollar lottery ticket could win you millions yet if you don't win you are only out three dollars. The only down side is almost no one wins so the odds of being out your three dollars is very good. Not a big thing though as you can deal with that.

    In no "prize gambling" reality is reversed. If you "win", so to speak, you lose big time!!! Often your life or everything you own. Now even though the odds of "winning" are really low the chance is still there. In fact the chances of "winning" often far exceed the normal lottery gamble. The other thing is if you don't "win" then you get nothing other than maybe arrive home a few seconds earlier or a two second round of applause from your friends.

     Now you might ask who would be stupid enough to enter in this type of lottery? Well likely you and almost everyone you know, that's who. If you don't believe me check out the examples below.

     One of the best examples of this is trying to beat a red light another is standing on that top rung of the step ladder even though it says it is not a step, sneaking home with one drink too many under your belt or making toast in the bath tub are other great ones.

     These types of gambling are a fools domain. Why... Well like I said there is no prize. If you do beat that red light what do you gain? Pretty well nothing other than maybe a few seconds of time. What do you stand to lose? Well killing someone would pretty well ruin your life. Maybe killing yourself which would also ruin your life. Or how about slow death by torture having to deal with ICBC in court for the next fifteen years. (at least to those that live in communist BC up here in Canada) Now if the ladder kicks out from under you and you break your neck that's fine but what if you live and can only blink your eyes to communicate. How does thirty more years of that sound? It would give you lots of time to learn to read, at least things like "this is not a step"

     As stupid as it all sounds I see people partaking in no prize gambling all the time. In fact looking back on my life I cannot believe I didn't "win" at least once!!! Every time I lost I got a compliment or slightly impressed someone at the very best. It would have been a totally different story had I "won" one of those gambles.

     Who do you know that would buy a lottery ticket where the winner has to give everything they own to the government? Anyone who did would be the laughing stock of the town. Yet in truth most of your intelligent friends partake in no prize gambling all the time. Even sadder is most of them don't even realize they are doing it.

The Train Bridge Jumper

     I saw a young guy jump off a really high train bridge one time. I was basking in the sun on a big rock that was protruding out of the water in the middle of this emerald green river under the very high train bridge. In fact the one he was jumping from. It was seriously high.   

     Johnny Lookinferlikes went up on the bridge to look. His friends down by the water were eagerly coaxing him on. It was fascinating to watch as none of the spineless coaxers would have even went up on the bridge let alone jumped. The guy was looking down and wondering if his shorts would be clean by the time he swam to shore. They kept cheering and yelling at him to jump.

     Finally he yelled and jumped, his last words I thought... When he hit the water it was like a rifle shot. I sat up getting ready to make a break out to where he landed. Just as I was ready to dive he broke the surface. He was under for a very long time..., I mean a really long time. That was a relief!!! I quickly glanced back to where his friends were and they had already walked up the bank and were gone!!!! The coaxers must have turned around and left before he even hit the surface and did not even wait to see if survived. They likely shite their pants and were heading to the car for paper.

     Now ole Johnny made some choices not based on a lot of science. Quick decisions like that usually turn out bad. He never likely knew the height of the bridge or what the limits were for human survival from high jumps like that. Something that scientists somewhere had previously figured out. The only thing that was affecting him was the cheering from his... Uh... Friends. I didn't envision Johnny having a long life after that experience. Unless of course he managed to realize that he was risking his life for no prize. In this case not even a round of applause. Kind of like Russian Roulette eventually there is always a winner!

     Now I admit most of us don't take gambles like this but we often take ones that could have as devastating consequences. Like one too many drinks on the way home from work. Crash your car, kill someone, their fault, you lose your insurance, you lose your job, you lose all respect anyone ever had for you. In one flash you go from successful downtown CEO to looking for spare change. Hell the bridge jumper guy would have just died. Thus that would have been a more sensible gamble of the two.

Seeing the Light

     Other simple examples are using a power tool without eye protection. It would not be an issue if you could turn back time. I know a guy did this just like me. I hurt but healed he lost most of one eye. Told me the story and to this day I cannot run any power tool without glasses. Something about the story he told me made me realize you can't turn back time. One simple thing and his life changed. It would have been so much easier to not be in such a hurry and to have taken the three seconds to put them glasses back on for that last little spot of grinding he missed.

     Now I am a bit of a slow learner. I added up hurting my eyes. It was about five times. One time very bad but shear luck the Doc saved it and it eventually healed. Yet I still took chances. At least up until I heard his story. Just the same we all like to act lucky and confident but unless you are clear about the downsides of your choice you may want to take a breather to reflect first. One tiny little drink a block away from home. What could possibly go wrong? Everything.

Calculated Adventures

     For years now I have very rarely partook in no prize gambling. Oh sure I have flown a hanglider to ten thousand feet, jumped out of a plane twice from four thousand feet, purposely flew a 150 Cessna into a stall and spiral dive numerous times at around 4000ft asl, bungee jumped and rode a Harley too fast too often. OK except for the last one these were not no prize gambles. They were calculated adventures mostly on pretty safe equipment designed for the purpose by people a lot smarter than me.

     Now why I say this was not no "prize gambling" is because when you fly five thousand feet above a mountain top in about a hundred and twenty pounds of aluminum and plastic the experience is life changing. The experience is the prize and man what an intense prize it is. After all it is one place here on earth that very few get to go to and it is right in your hood. Jumping out of an airplane is the same, better than a week of colonics. Hanging onto a wing strut at 3500ft asl at around 100 mph and then letting go is about as intense as it gets.

     With most gambling in our modern world you have to play to lose. Now at the very light end of running the red light is the risk of a hefty fine. Likely a hundred or two. That is a lot of lottery tickets down the drain!!! I have a theory that why spend any luck you have on no prize gambling. It is also why I don't buy scratch and wins for a ten grand prize. Why waste your luck on something so small. Especially if the grand prize for that batch has already been won!!!

     So next time you climb that tree to show off make a quick assessment in your head as to what first prize is and what happens if you don't win. Sure it might "get you the girl" but it also might scare the girl away. After all she might think you are just some approval seeker who is eventually going to win at "no prize gambling" and end up dead. Dead partners are never as fun as they used to be when alive.

     Now I admit if your self esteem is running very low then sometimes compliments really seem to help, at least in the moment. The trouble is never for long and sure enough the next day you need to do a repeat performance. It won't fix your self esteem and in the long run odds are it will eventually kill or maim you. Thus you might want to give your actions some pre-thought if you are so inclined. It could save your life and unless life scares the hell out of you why not stay awhile. Oh and for any daredevil types out there you may want to read this post. The daredevil concept.

      Here are a few more "No Prize Gambles" you may want to consider. Especially if you consider yourself to be the type who really is concerned about your family. These are common everyday things that most don't stop to think about. If you do though and take some time to research a little it will surprise the hell out of you.