Wake up, sleeper

bingo noob ~ftw!

*disclaimer: i am not promoting the game mentioned below*

Yesterday my dear grandmother asked me to go with her to the magical creepy world of bingo. I haven’t been there before. Of course I can’t say no to my grandmother. I prayed hard to the Lord for a great tropical storm to come to stop me from going to the bingo place but only light showers arrived.

So there we were at the mall and then up to the floor were bingo is played.  So that was it, my first time to enter a bingo place.

The place seemed particularly harmless. There were old ladies, young single ladies and people selling food and drinks. There were unique jobs such as game card sellers, ball number announcers, and the buzzer person (when someone shouts bingo). There was this big sign at the glass door: Below 21 years old not allowed. It then occurred to me that bingo is gambling. I almost forgot it was.

After such realization I decided not to play. I’m not a fan of legalism and I know it seems to be a harmless game but something just told me not to play. 

I then helped my grandmother by buying game cards for her and with marking the numbers, the ball announcer was too quick for my old lady. Not only that, but the money disappeared too quickly too. I was the one holding grandmother’s purse and whew, it was upsetting.  The price for each game gets everyone excited so they bet for it. The prices started from 4 digits to 6. Wow. All the gambling fun and dismay and waste!

Grandmother actually almost won during the first game, but wasn’t able to shout Bingo! So she never got the price. In Bingo world the technical term was “Sleeper”. It’s when the player was not able to shout Bingo! after the last number was called. By this, the game card is now forfeited. I said to myself, But the price was supposed to be hers.

After all the regrets I remembered this verse: Wake up, O sleeper!

I realized that something awesome awaits me so I must always be alert and expectant. Just like how grandmother missed the price that was supposed to be hers, I could also miss blessings, opportunities and a whole lot more if I was a sleeper.

There’s this funny thing. Two hours+ on the games, Mr. Officer approached our messy gambling table and asked how old I was. They thought I was a minor! My grandmother said, “She’s 22! Just baby-faced.” My auntie told me, “You look like a 16 year-old”. The game card sellers and even the announcers laughed. I always get confused about this. I’m not very sure if looking young is always a good thing. Anyway I tried hard not to laugh, since it happened for the nth time.

kana on game cards

If I wasn’t helping grandmother I was practicing kana on used game cards. This way I was able to be productive even for a bit. I tried to remember the previous lessons with sensei.

And guess what, I have stayed at the bingo place for a total of 4 hours! I can’t believe I survived.  Being at the bingo place makes one so hungry. ~^0^