Impulse Control

It's a topic I've been thinking about lately, what with Thanksgiving indulgence and Black Friday indulgence. At least, indulgence is what I called it. Impulsiveness would also be accurate. Anyway, turns out that casinos in Illinois are having a hard time, but they're not simply blaming the bad economy, nope. They say that a smoking ban is hurting cash flow. I guess like turkey and shopping, gambling and nicotine just go together.

From the Chicago Tribune

Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, had predicted a 19 percent drop in revenue when the state smoking ban was debated, based on what other states had seen. He's not happy to have been so close to the mark.

"There's a high correlation between smokers and gambling," Swoik said Wednesday. "Although the number of people coming to the casinos is about the same, the time they spend inside is down. They're outside smoking. And in this business, if you're not putting money in the machine or on the table—time is money."

I'm paying a lot of attention to where I stand as far as impulsiveness and self-indulgence go. Something about some samurai movies (1, 2) I watched recently makes impulse control seem very attractive.