Bingo!

This is possibly one of the saddest photos I've seen lately. Barring dead monks in China and starving war orphans in Africa, of course. And sad kittens who just want to know who eated their cookie.

This came from a New York Times article about how banning smoking from bingo halls has led to a massive decline in revenue and thus the money going to charity has taken a hit.

I find this picture sad on a few levels.

The caption on this picture is: "A player, lucky charms at hand, waited for bingo to start at a hall in Renton, Washingont." First, this woman is surrounded by odd stuff (including what looks like a dead white persian cat,) and emptiness. Second, it looks like the joys in her life consist of fried food and bingo. Maybe coloring. (Okay, that was mean.) Third, this image reminds me of the chubby girl in middle school who gets invited to "a party" and gets pranked when she shows up and no one is there. (No, I was not that girl. But it's still mean.) I won't even get into the obvious political nonsense about America's obesity and the lengths people will go to in order to hold onto a pretty unhealthy habit.

Suffice it to say, I figure purgatory is probably just an empty bingo hall.