I wouldn't call myself as an ambassador for poker; I'm not actively out
there recruiting for it. Indeed, one of the things I like about
poker, as opposed to my non-profit-centered job, is that I don't feel
I have to be “on” all the time — in the sense of
trying to advocate a position and bring people on board with it.
Causes and missions like my day job require that you do a certain
amount of advocacy. Poker doesn't require it, and I'm not going to
start; I'm tired of that work.
But, I do share my life with the people I care about. And, poker is a
big part of my life. If they get interested, and get involved, great,
we have another thing in common! Plus, most of them are finding it
elsewhere (because of the boom), and then coming me to after the fact
to ask about it. That's not much different from what you suggest,
anyway.
Still, I'm not going to hide myself and my enthusiasm for my hobby from
the people in my life. That direct harm — being distanced from
friends because you're afraid to tell them about what you do —
is more harmful than the potential harm of possible addiction.
And, frankly, if someone I tutored in poker descends into it
compulsively, I'd say to them: “You should stop; you are making
a mistake&rdquo. If they decided to take my advice about playing at
first, and then suddenly stop taking my advice when it becomes
“quit”, I'll feel bad for them, but I will have told them
how I felt. If they are too blinded by their troubles to take good
advice from a friend, then it's likely they would have fallen into
something dangerous no matter what.
Some people out there are susceptible to addiction. Having spent a
good amount of time with addicts in my life, I have found that someone
with the addiction illness will find a way to feed it, one way or the
other. Living your life in fear that you'll be the one to introduce
something innocent in moderation to the addict who does it
compulsively is just giving up on people and on life. Addiction is a
tragedy of the human condition. Let's not make it worse by living in
constant fear of it that everyone around us will instantly become
addicts.
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Date: 2006-02-28 16:13 (UTC)I wouldn't call myself as an ambassador for poker; I'm not actively out there recruiting for it. Indeed, one of the things I like about poker, as opposed to my non-profit-centered job, is that I don't feel I have to be “on” all the time — in the sense of trying to advocate a position and bring people on board with it. Causes and missions like my day job require that you do a certain amount of advocacy. Poker doesn't require it, and I'm not going to start; I'm tired of that work.
But, I do share my life with the people I care about. And, poker is a big part of my life. If they get interested, and get involved, great, we have another thing in common! Plus, most of them are finding it elsewhere (because of the boom), and then coming me to after the fact to ask about it. That's not much different from what you suggest, anyway.
Still, I'm not going to hide myself and my enthusiasm for my hobby from the people in my life. That direct harm — being distanced from friends because you're afraid to tell them about what you do — is more harmful than the potential harm of possible addiction.
And, frankly, if someone I tutored in poker descends into it compulsively, I'd say to them: “You should stop; you are making a mistake&rdquo. If they decided to take my advice about playing at first, and then suddenly stop taking my advice when it becomes “quit”, I'll feel bad for them, but I will have told them how I felt. If they are too blinded by their troubles to take good advice from a friend, then it's likely they would have fallen into something dangerous no matter what.
Some people out there are susceptible to addiction. Having spent a good amount of time with addicts in my life, I have found that someone with the addiction illness will find a way to feed it, one way or the other. Living your life in fear that you'll be the one to introduce something innocent in moderation to the addict who does it compulsively is just giving up on people and on life. Addiction is a tragedy of the human condition. Let's not make it worse by living in constant fear of it that everyone around us will instantly become addicts.