It's the first Tuesday in November today; It might not mean much to most but here in Australia it's Melbourne Cup day - Australia's biggest and most lucrative horse race. They call it the race that stops a nation although a more ludicrous statement I've never heard because the nation doesn't stop at all.
It'll be a Melbourne Cup with a difference today as zero spectators are permitted at Flemington Race Course for the event - Normally there'd be 100,000 people eating, drinking, revelling and, of course, betting. It's one of the most attended events in Australia each year. The pandemic situation has thrown a wet blanket on it this year though. The betting will continue however, there's never any shortage or people willing to part with their hard-earned money and hand it to someone else based on chance. Some win, most lose; That's the nature of gambling.
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I don't like horse racing; I think it's cruel. Getting whipped with a riding crop around a track doesn't seem like a lot of fun to me and whilst people say the horses love to run I wonder if they love to get beaten too? On occasions I've offered to beat a human being with a riding crop, just to see how fast they can run, but I've never had anyone put their hand up for it. Funny that huh? Some say the horse isn't beaten that much, or doesn't feel it...I don't agree - Just my opinion.
Anyway, I don't support horse racing and am not a gambler so when one of my colleagues came around to get some money from me for the office sweep I declined...You know what he said? "Don't you like fun?"
I deployed one of my withering looks, and said colleague slunk away without another word.
I've never been a gambler. Sure, I've taken gambles in life, risked things, including myself, on chance outcomes, but I've not been an active gambler; Certainly not on horse racing. There was this one time I was at the Casino in Monte Carlo and I had a few goes on the roulette wheel, but that was more of a situational thing, a tourist thing...I was pretending to be James Bond. It wasn't cool because I lost 50 Euro. No, in the main gambling hasn't been my thing.
I don't think my aversion to gambling is behind my dislike for horse racing though, despite the whole industry running wholly and solely around gambling. I think it's about the horses and the way humans feel comfortable whipping an animal around the place for their own personal enjoyment. It disgusts me actually.
Anyway, today is the race that stops a nation and whilst some of the country may stop at 1500 AEDT, when the race is due to start, not all of it will...I'll be working.
I'm interested to hear what your take on it is...Gambling and horse racing I mean.
It's said Australians will bet on two flies walking up a wall and that's not too far off the truth! We have a gambling culture from way back when, and since the introduction of electronic poker machines it has become a social plague amongst many Australians, curiously most prevalent amongst the lower socio-economic demographic - Certainly as far as poker machines go.
Some $24 billion is lost to poker machines in a year here in Australia; Not surprising considering we have over 20% of the worlds poker machines here. This in a country of only 26 million people. Most clubs and pubs have them, and of course casinos too.
So what do you think? Do you have a gamble now and then? Do you buy scratch-off and lottery tickets, bet at the casino, on the dogs, horses, maybe cock or dog fights? (Which are illegal here). Betting is available on almost everything around the world, most sports and major events including political elections...So do you take your chances or are you more like me...Happy to spend your hard earned money on other things?
Feel free to drop in with a comment...And if you want to volunteer to be the one I whip around a track with a riding crop as above, let me know too; I'm keen to test out my experiment.馃榿
EDIT: As an addendum to this post the horse Anthony Van Dyck was put to death after the running of the Melbourne Cup today after it broke down - The 7th horse to be killed on Cup day since 2013. What a great fucking sport huh?
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
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