I'm all in! Or am I?
Friday, my dad hosted a poker party at his house. A couple uncles were there, and some other friends. Just nickel and dime stuff, but real money on the table. We drank. We swore. We laughed an awful lot. A good guy’s night.
Now, if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I’ve been looking for a good day job. I have a solid gig for the moment, but it’s seasonal work and in April I’ll be “unemployed” again. So I’m sending out resumes and making calls and hoping for something to materialize before May arrives.
Now, there are two strong possibilities at present. One is in sales: I’m going in for a third interview later this week. But I’m not a natural salesman, and the company is looking for somebody “hungry”. I know that I could do the work, but I don’t think I’d like myself coming home each day from asking people to buy something that they didn’t necessarily want.
The other possibility is to be a dealer at a local casino. The wage isn’t much above minimum, but the tips can add up to a decent living. I’d enjoy it. I’d meet a wide variety of people, and hear some great stories, I’m sure. But I’m not sure that gambling is necessarily a good job for someone trying to pursue a life of virtue, and trying to encourage others to do so as well.
These aren’t the only options. I’m applying to various other places, including retail; but these are the only responses I’ve had, and I’m fairly sure that both these places are willing to hire me. Now, both would require me to go through some training up front that I would have to pay for. That’s fine; it’s not much training, I have enough cash in the bank, and the hire is guaranteed afterward.
The other night, a friend suggested that I make a list of pros and cons to help me figure it out. As I was thinking it through, I realized a few things:
- I don’t want a sales job
- I do want the dealer job
- But I’m afraid that dealing casino games would be a temptation against virtue
So, what “pros” means is, dealing cards would not be a temptation against virtue, and “cons” means dealing cards would be a temptation.
Here’s the list I’m starting. It’s an open list: I’ll update it as new ideas or suggestions come to me. So please feel free to make suggestions or give advice in the comments box!
PROS – not an occasion of sin:
- It’s not in-and-of-itself immoral, and the work is flexible enough to allow me to focus on writing and research in my off hours
- I’d be get to know a cross-section of society that I wouldn’t normally meet
- I might have the opportunity to reach out to someone who is reluctant to ask for the help he or she needs
- I would have the fun of gambling games without having to risk my own money
- …
CONS – a near occasion of sin:
- I’d be constantly surrounded by different kinds of temptation: to gamble with my own money, especially when I can’t afford it; to drink to excess; to lust after the provocatively dressed cocktail waitresses
- Secondhand smoke; ’nuff said
- Would I be enabling those who are gambling beyond their means, or are compulsive/addictive gamblers?
- Would it compromise my efforts to write about and encourage people toward virtue?
- …
Again, please comment and offer any advice you’re willing to part with! Thanks!
Hmm…
On the cons
1. Temptation doesn’t exist in a vacuum – it is an intersection of circumstance and nature. It would not bother me a wit to work in a casino because a)I know the odds are stacked against me and therefore it’s painful to gamble, b)bling doesn’t impress me, c)I don’t drink, and d)I’m not attracted to women.
I really have a hard time seeing an issue other than the lust part and even then, I suspect you’re human enough that once you get to know your co-workers it would disappear. You like card games, which is vastly different, ironically than gambling. And I’ve never seen you overly greedy (which is a prequesite to actual gambling).
Simply set a rule for yourself that you’ll neither drink nor play games in your off time at work (bad idea anyway) and I suspect you won’t be tempted to do more than is healthy/fun. I can’t imagine that casinos would encourage heavy gambling on the part of their employees, anyway.
2. Can’t make the secondhand smoke go away, although I experienced as a child and survived.
3. Most jobs have some sort of moral compromise involved, including your current one. To a certain extent you are enabling. On the other hand, those who are most guilty are the casino owners. There’s no loss of life or limb here – you’re guilt level would be about as much a bartender involved with an alcoholic. The choices really lie with the addict, not you.
4. Actually, I’d say it would help your virtue writing. It’s guaranteed that you will come in contact with less than virtuous people. It seems like to would inform your writing without having to spend time on the dark side yourself.
You can’t tell that I’m pro casino job, can you??? The world is full of insurance salesman…
Oh, what the hell! What would bother me about the casino job would be the exploitive nature of the work — both of you and the customer. But all jobs have an element of this. My wife has a good friend whose father worked for more than thirty years on the line at GM. His job was not satisfying to the soul or full of greater meaning. When I have days at work that really chafe, I think of him and what he was doing in that job. I didn’t know the man, but I am sure he wasn’t there to build cars.
Please read “Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden.