The Casino Field Trip

My mom took me to a casino. This was not a prank.

It was an actual educational trip, she does that a lot. Something about “life experience.” I didn’t go there to gamble. I went there to learn.

I want to explain it in less than four minutes.

It's like doing a sensory scan and I learned that casinos are loud. There are bells, whistles, and lights everywhere. People clap when they win. People yell when they lose. One lady spilled her drink and just stared at it for a long time like it was going to get back in the cup on its own. When I was younger, this would’ve been too much. I didn’t like loud noises or a lot of people moving fast. But this time, I didn’t shut down or freak out. I actually did fine. I noticed it was loud and I just kept walking and I’m proud of that.

I did a little analysis when my mom showed me how the slot machines work. You put money in, you press a button and the machine does some spinning. And then most of the time you lose money.

It’s actually kind of genius. And also a little evil. She taught me:

• Set a budget.

• Stick to the budget.

• When it’s gone, stop.

• Don’t chase the win.

I spent $10, I lost $3, and then I won ten times more than I spent in the first place, and I was fine with that because $10 was all I planned to spend. Then my mom told me that I should do something called cash out and she showed me how to do it and then she taught me to say:

"If it ain't in the budget, I ain't budging."

When I thought about everything, I noticed a lot:

• No clocks anywhere.

• People forget they’re spending real money.

• Everyone looks at the machine like it owes them something.

• People will talk to a machine before they talk to each other. That's weird, at least to me anyway. but I didn’t like that part.

  
  

  

  
  

I had some lessons that I learned:

1. I can handle places that used to overwhelm me. That’s a big deal now.

2. I don’t like wasting money, and now I understand why people do.

3. Going with my mom was better than going with friends first. She explains things better.

4. You should always go in with a plan, especially when money is involved.

5. I will never live in a casino.

   
   

My mom says life is going to keep throwing things at me like crowded places, fast decisions, peer pressure, and environments that are loud and unpredictable. In a nutshell she wants me to be ready.

Now, I am ready for sure. I'm not a budgeting pro yet but I feel like a sensory champ. I didn’t go to the casino to become a gambler. I went to become a grown man who knows how to walk in, observe, learn, and walk out with his dignity, his dollars, and his peace.

Mission complete!

-I'm Micaiah Judah Autistic. Focused. Budgeting for real life. Not interested in roulette. Very interested in responsibility. And yes… I still say: “If it ain’t in the budget, I ain’t budging.”