Dear Friends,
Finally, something has happened to me that merits the telling! So here I am.
The Greyhound Track where I work has stopped live racing because it is "hemorrhaging money." They'll keep satellite betting (betting on off-site dog and horse races), but the upshot is that the whole facility is drastically downsizing. That goes for the overstaffed poker room, of course. A week from Monday, 25 out of 55 dealers will be dropped based on performance over the next week. If I don't make it, I'll be jobless. The bright side is that if I make it, I'll get more shifts and hence make more money.
My urge is to focus single-mindedly on being the best poker dealer that I can be, ignoring everything until the decision has been made. I realize, however, that doing things in my own strength really isn't the way to go--especially having the connections that I do. So I'm going to pray, and I'm going to do everything in Godly excellence as I have always done. When Jesus was about to be crucified under Pilate, Pilate said to Jesus, "Do you not know that I have authority to release you, and I have authority to crucify you?" Jesus' reply was, "You would have no authority over me, unless it had been given you from above." In the same way, I trust that my authorities are subject to God's will.
I guess it's about time to mention my awful timing and how God's strength is evident in my weakness.
I lost my dealing license and badge over the last week. I have no idea where it went. I searched my apartment in a panic, but there aren't that many places that it could be. I'm pretty sure it's gone for good. I went to work expecting to be sent home and, furthermore, not to be able to work for the weekend (it's illegal to deal without a license). And then... God came through for me. I went to the break room at about 11:30AM after calling around to find out where the State Rep was--that's the person who can print me a new license. They were at Derby Lane, another greyhound track in St. Petersburg, which is about 35 minutes away. Unfortunately, buses don't cross towns, so I'd have to take a taxi. Which would mean about $100 for the round trip. At this point, I was thinking maybe I could just borrow somebody's car and offer to fill up their gas tank, but I hate asking favors like that.
Jodi--the manager--just happened to be in the break room while I was explaining the situation to the other dealers. This was unusual in itself, since the supervisors and managers usually don't hang out in the staff break room. Anyways, he heard the story, and told me to wait around while he went upstairs. I agreed, because... well, because I'd agree to anything legal to keep my job. He then proceeded to offer to drive me to Derby Lane himself so I could get my license.
Just to clarify: the second-in-charge of our poker room drove over an hour so I could get a license and deal the second half of the day. That's like getting Gabriel to do your laundry. I was floored. As an added bonus: I remember a book I read about social engineering that said most people don't want to ask or accept favors because they don't want to "use up" whatever theoretical store of favors they have with that person. But statistically, a person is more likely to grant a favor if they've granted that same person a favor in the past. I think it's because granting a favor means investing something of yourself in a person, which means increasing that person's value to you, which in turn makes you more likely to protect that investment. It's a cycle that can be either good or bad; in this particular case, it may benefit me.
So I lost my license. I can hardly explain how bad that is. It's reallybad. And instead of totally screwing me over, it might have just played in my favor. "If God is for me, who can be against me?" In conclusion, pray that I have the strength to model Christ-like behavior despite the stress of the coming week. I hope you're all doing wonderfully. Don't forget to keep me updated! Take care,
-------------------------------------
See pictures of my new apartment and of work. (Look for the album labeled "Apt #1614" and "Poker Room," respectively.)
View the FUN Archives.You can contact me by replying to this e-mail. To send letters or packages, use the following address:
Dan Kaschel
4747 W Waters Ave., Apt #1614
Tampa, FL 33614
My phone number is 231-631-3016.
Peace,
Dan
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment