My uncle had a small fruit machine, a slot machine in miniature. You could hold it in your hand and he loved it. I wanted to try it too, but he didn't want me to. All I could do was watch.
Grandma never said that he had to let me try it.
My uncle was not loyal, although he expected me to be. If he wanted to do something that grandma forbade, I had to be on the lookout and warn him. I didn't like that but I did it anyway. Why did I do it? Because a child that was raised at the same time as I was obeys. There was no refusing, no being rude, although there was one thing I did not do. I refused to say "Uncle John is the king" when he asked: Who is the king?
My cousins did. They would roar in unison: Uncle John is the king!
I refused and although my uncle is a bully he didn't get angry at me for this even though he kept repeating the question. I think that Grandma knew what John was doing, but for some reason, she rarely said anything about it. Was she waiting for her young grandchildren to set their own limits?
She certainly did her best in raising him but after years of struggle, not much came of it.
Maybe it was Grandpa's fault because he got a heart attack, maybe because he stayed in the army after the war? Maybe my uncle was so fat because he couldn't say no? Or maybe he's just too spoilt because he's Grandma's youngest and he keeps trying everyone's limits because he wants to know how far he can go.
Uncle John is not a good person and many could relate to that. It is clear to anyone who meets him that he suffers from various addictions and is a professional gambler.
He likes to gamble with his life, health, and that of others. He does not care if he harms others as long as he benefits from it.
Of course, his obesity, sleeping with an oxygen bottle for years, and everything that affects him are always the fault of others.
When something is someone else's fault, you don't have to ask yourself what you did or are doing wrong. Is suffering easier to bear when someone else is to blame?
If grandma would have lived now, she would have adapted to him again. She knew exactly how he was although she had a strong opinion, strong will, and always had been an independent woman. A woman who spoke several languages and had a job with an international trading company.
She did not gamble. The only game she ventured into was Yahtzee. She always played that alone, never with anyone.
Addiction manifests itself in different ways. One addiction is not like another. People who used to play in arcades and spend their money are now sitting at home in front of their computers.
The computer, like gaming consoles and the smartphone, is this century's addiction. Another unconscious addiction is the television, radio, and not forgetting all the medicines we take together.
For every ailment, there is a pill, just as there is a tablet for every side effect.
What has happened to us that we can no longer say no? Isn't it strange that free people gamble massively with their lives, drink themselves to death, smoke, eat too much and continue to fight with others? Why not put more energy into yourself, and your own happiness?
Nowadays the world is full of Uncle Johns and trust me all these Johns do not make the world a better place.
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