When Necessity Trumps Principle

We are divided by nations but united by several virtues. Growing up, my parents, mentors and Sunday school teachers always taught us to live a decent life and work hard to maintain a good reputation. They’d reference good and successful people and tell us that if we wanted to be like them we should follow their steps. On the other hand, they’d also talk about vices frowned upon by society. Out of the many vices they often talked about, the two that were most repetitive were stealing and gambling. When we take a deeper view, stealing and gambling work hand in hand. According to them, you can never be successful through gambling and that it always leads to ruin. Gambling is an addiction; once you get addicted to it, it takes a lot to stop.

They often shared stories of people, especially children our age, who sold their parent’s properties to gamble. The one that still lives rent-free in my head is about a high school student. He grew up in a poor background, but his parents were bent on sponsoring him through all four corners of education. Over here, the final class (SSS 3) is always the most demanding (in terms of money and time) but his parents still struggled and toiled under the scorching sun to gather fees for his external exams. Surprisingly (and stupidly), instead of paying his fees to the school authorities, he took it to a gambling spot and squandered it all. He didn’t only crush his dreams, he also squashed that of his parents’. They invested everything they had in his education, only for him to pay them back in a terrible way. I mean, they could have invested that money in their businesses.

With this story and many others that filled my ears, I concluded that gambling was a no-go area. When I got to high school, my mates were into gambling. After school, they’d branch gambling shops and try their luck. Sometimes they won, other times, they lost. After every win, they’d spend lavishly on frivolous things. Some of them would even use the money to gamble on another day. It was an endless cycle. Despite their wins, it never got to my head. My mum taught me to be content with whatever I had and I pretty much had everything. The basic things, at least. So I did my thing and I allowed them to do theirs. No big deal.

I saw gamblers as “bad people.” They fit perfectly in my book of bad people. I never pictured myself gambling in any way. Well, things changed when I got to the university. I was in my first year and things weren’t really going smoothly for me. Actually, things weren’t going smoothly for my friends and I. Bills were flowing in from all angles. Then, my friend who had been into betting and gambling brought up an idea for us to play a game. Before that time, I had never played betting games. But I had no other choice. So, we all downloaded the app and played the game. Luckily, we won. It was my first-ever time and I won. I used the money to settle my fees and bought some stuff for myself.

I realized that sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we are not in control of what we do and we are forced to make hard decisions. Who would’ve thought that I, who hated and despised gamblers, would ever gamble? Who would've thought gambling would come through as a life saver? I’m not proud of the decision I made that day. However, I learnt my lesson not to judge anyone I see gambling. We all have our stories.