THE allure of going broke in Las Vegas is incomprehensible. Why anyone would want to ante up big bucks, when the odds are so heavily stacked in favor of the house, is beyond this frugal-minded gal. Yet thousands of Hawaii residents (including some of my favorite relatives) gravitate to Nevada every year in the unrealistic hope of winning easy money. The stakes are high in the gamble of life
Losing hard-earned savings is more like it. Why not just throw paychecks into the Ala Wai Canal and be done with it?
Because such is the thrilling nature of gambling. The occasional win justifies the risk. The more common loss is rationalized and forgotten, when the fever hits again.
Eh, it's only money. But increasingly, the stakes are rising too high in the ultimate game called life.
Case in point: the ongoing Kauai trial in which Monica Alves Peralto and her husband, Mitchell Peralto, are charged with the second-degree murder of her 23-year-old cousin, Kimberly Washington Cohen.
It's troubling enough that three witnesses testified they watched the Peraltos beat, bind, gag and then dump Cohen's struggling body into the back seat of a car before driving away. Her corpse was found the next day, less than a mile away, in a shallow grave.
It's outrageous that nobody called police while this was happening, and only weakly attempted to stop the pummeling in progress.
But the most infuriating part, according to trial coverage by Star-Bulletin Kauai correspondent Trish Moore, was that the witnesses explained that they "didn't really think Monica would kill her cousin."
They didn't? What are they - clairvoyant? Even medical doctors don't know how much punishment can be withstood by any man, woman or child.
This sorry sentiment says a lot about human (inhuman?) behavior in a much too violent society.
Are these witnesses claiming they would have intervened if they surmised the beating would be fatal?
Are they excusing their inaction because Cohen was only getting what she "deserved," according to what Mitchell Peralto allegedly told them?
Or have too many of us become so desensitized to witnessing blood and gore on television, in the movies and even via kiddie video games that real-life criminal acts (last time I looked, assault was still against the law) become surreal episodes in our day-to-day existence?
So many questions. So many troubling answers.
AT the rate we're going, our state motto should be changed from "The Life Of The Land Is Perpetuated In Righteousness" to "Don't Get Involved."
People, especially women and children, are being abused into early graves. Meanwhile, the best that witnesses like relatives, friends or neighbors can stammer is, "Gee, we knew they were getting beat up but we never thought they would die," or even worse, "It's none of our business."
Wrong. It's none of our business if somebody wins or loses big in Las Vegas.
It certainly is our business if this community is going down the tubes because of fear, ignorance or the misguided relief that at least the bad thing isn't happening to us.
Corny but true - when you live on an island, we are all part of an extended family. The next witness turning his or her head may be your own.