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The Bingo Support Group
Online bingo is truly a form of support for many. I have personally seen many people come into a chat room at an online bingo site because they simply, 'needed to talk' to someone. Often times, players sit in a chat room at an online bingo site and tell jokes and share their days, but sometimes, along comes a player that truly needs some support. I once used an online bingo site chat room for this very reason.
One spring night, I was sitting at home alone. Both of my teenagers had after school events to attend to and then study groups with friends. My daughter called to ask if she could spend the evening at her girlfriends and after some consideration, I said yes. My son was due home at 9:00pm. I figured I had a couple of hours to myself so what better to do than to pull up a seat at the computer and play some bingo. I had found online bingo only a couple months prior to this and really hadn't played very much. I love bingo but really didn't have much time to myself to enjoy the bingo chat with other players.
As I logged into the bingo site, I bought my bingo cards and entered the bingo chat. The chat game at the time wasn't one where I had to participate so I set up my automatic dauber, automatic buy cards and automatic bingo. I decided to go and make some cookies for the family. Around 8:30 pm, I decided to sit back down at the computer and participate in the bingo chat. I was lucky and had found I had won a couple of bingos while I was baking. The other bingo players in chat had all been with one another for quite some time so they knew each other well. I just sat back to watch their conversation and join in a few of the jokes. Before I knew it, it was 9:30pm and I realized that my son wasn't home yet.
My children have been raised under a fairly strict thumb. 1 minute late, 1 day grounded. My son was now over 30 minutes late. This was not typical. I started to make some phone calls to no avail. I sat back at my desk and just typed into the bingo chat, 'HELP' Someone in the bingo chat said, 'Whets wrong?' I proceeded to explain what had transpired in between BINGO being called and WTG's given to the bingo winners. Out of the blue, one of the bingo players said, 'Lets all say a prayer to help our fellow bingo players son find his way home' At that moment, all of the bingo chat room fell silent as ONE of the bingo players said a prayer and all other bingo players said AMEN. This choked me up and gave me a feeling of strength.
The bingo chat room continued on its in normal fashion but many bingo players would ask if my son was home yet. At approximately 10:00pm that evening, my son walked through the door. I yelled into chat, 'He's HOME'. The bingo players were so happy for me and my son. My son was lost trying to take a shortcut home through the woods that night. We had just moved out to the Midwest a month earlier.
That evening, the support from the bingo chat was likely what saved my sanity. If anyone ever thinks that playing online bingo is just about gambling, they need to think again. Online bingo players are more than just gamers. They are friends, family and a true form of a support group.
Current News
Smoking ban still applies to bingo halls
A Jefferson Circuit Court judge has stuck down a district court order that prohibited the Louisville Metro Health Department from enforcing the city’s old smoking ban in bingo halls.
A district judge had ruled in April that the bingo halls are private clubs and exempt from the ordinance.
But in a Dec. 28 ruling, Jefferson Circuit Judge W. Douglas Kemper ruled that District Judge Sheila Collins exceeded her authority in striking down the ordinance as it relates to bingo halls.
He ruled that state law only allowed her to determine if the Louisville Metro Code Enforcement Board of Appeals acted arbitrarily.
The Jefferson County Attorney’s office only obtained a copy of the Circuit Court order this week.
Kemper effectively ruled that if the bingo halls want to challenge the ordinance, they must file a separate suit in Jefferson Circuit Court.
Kemper remanded the case to district court and ordered the judge to make a finding as to whether the code enforcement board acted arbitrarily.
Whatever the final outcome of the case, it will probably not matter in July, when a new smoking ordinance takes effect that bans smoking in virtually every work place.