I have a friend who, whenever we are on a train journey in a group, insists on organising a sweep on how many minutes into the trip we will hear the “See it, say it, sorted” announcement. It passes the time and it’s a good way of avoiding more serious conversation.
He’s a punter, obviously, and so is well aware of another slogan that has been jangling around in our heads for even longer: “When the fun stops, stop”. It predates the transport advice by more than a year, having been coined in 2015.
Regardless of the fact that it was discarded in 2021 for the far less memorable, less irritating “Take Time To Think” it still creeps into our consciousness like Agadoo or Barbie Girl.
So, as we enter the ninth Safer Gambling Week, it’s tempting to think we’ve heard it all before and that the online messages and banners in betting shop windows across Britain and Ireland are just tired wallpaper.
Hopefully, you are among the majority who enjoy their betting as an enjoyable relaxation and you need no reminding to keep your gambling in check. However, even if you are on top of your betting habits, your expenditure in money and time, it does no harm to have a quick look at your outlay in the same way that “See it, say it, sorted” might cause you to glance around the train carriage for an unattended bag.
And if you are not happy with what you discover when you contemplate the part that betting plays in your life then do something about it rather than continue down the same path.
All through Safer Gambling Week our leading tipsters will be sharing their advice on how they have kept their betting under control down the years. It will do no harm to follow their tips, although accumulating 40 years of betting records in your garage, as Richard Birch has achieved, will lead to some task when the decluttering division arrives.
In 2022, Sir Grant Shapps, then transport secretary, called for “a bonfire of banalities” to get rid of the constant announcements to which passengers are subjected. It failed to derail the serious message about ensuring we take stock of our surroundings when travelling and, even if we believe they are trite, we should not ignore the well-intended messages that Safer Gambling Week sends to us all.