Wednesday, December 27, 2023 

On Monday night, December 25, 2023, Raymond Wang, 27, was on his bedroom computer at home when, at 10:35:44 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, he suffered his biggest, most horrible setback in five years. He found out that one of his beloved role models had resigned in disgrace three months ago. Michael Clitus Blackwell (born May 3, 1942) served 40 years as the president and CEO of Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, a nonprofit that helps children who have been abused or neglected, helping these children turn away from their painful pasts and rebuild their lives and experience joy, hope, and the love of Jesus Christ. The mission can be summed up in four beautiful words: sharing hope … changing lives. Michael Blackwell became the organization’s president on July 1, 1983, serving 40 years until this past September, when a financial review confirmed that he had used $400,000 of BCH funds to buy personal gifts, such as vacations, snacks, and a car for his wife, Catherine Blackwell, who has been married to him since 1967. For four of those 40 years, Raymond Wang looked up to Michael Blackwell as a role model. Throughout that time, Raymond firmly considered Michael Blackwell to be one of those people who “could do no wrong.” Michael Blackwell is a wonderful, wholesome, kindhearted man, and below is a list of examples to demonstrate this. You can read more about the traumatic ordeal Raymond has been going through: Student’s Christmas vacation ruined by worst intrusive thought in 5 years. Sing this line in the tune of the first line of Shawn Mendes’ “Stitches”: “He’s been distracted many times before / But nothing in five years has left him quite this sore.”

Normally, for activities that have a legal age, such as drinking, gambling, or voting, one must reach the relevant birthday, and even a day or two below the requirement is still illegal. For example, due to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, many websites require one to be 13 to join; 12.99 is still a no-go. Let’s day that a person was born on the day of the 9/11 attacks, or 9/11/2001. The person was not allowed to create an account on YouTube or Smogon Forums before September 11, 2014. September 10 was still against the rules, but if the person created the account on September 12, 2014, it would be totally fine. Likewise, when Raymond and his family went to the Encore Boston Harbor last summer, on July 15, 2023, Raymond and his brother, Bryan, who were aged 26 and 23, respectively, were granted entry to the casino once they provided their passports and passed the verification; their cousin, Yichen, 11, who is way too young to enter, stayed in the garden with a 19-year-old boy, who is also ineligible. Although 19 is much older than 11 (72.7% older, in fact), 19 is still ineligible, being two years shy of the requirement of 21. The rest of the family went inside, and they spent well over an hour inside, playing slot machines, blackjack, poker, and relaxing on a sofa. Since 2023 − 21 = 2002, assuming nobody violated regulations, anyone inside that day was born on or before July 15, 2002. This week, due to Raymond’s intrusive thoughts, cognitive dissonance, and significant decrease of enjoyment of activities that normally make him happy (such as math, singing, video games, and listening to music), resulting in his lowest level of comfort since September 2018, the Encore Boston Harbor’s casino rooms already have participants born in 2006 despite there being four days remaining in 2023. Due to the nature, magnitude, and personal value in the tragic fact that a negative truth about Michael Blackwell had come to light, Ray will likely not return to normal until well into January. He will not regain his clarity of mind or his peace until January 5, 2024. Therefore, anyone born on or after January 5, 2003, despite technically still being 20, may enter the Encore Casino this week. Twenty-year-olds born on or after January 6, 2003, however, will still be denied entry until January 6, 2024.

Likewise, for activities that set the age to 18, you are already allowed to bring people born on January 5, 2006, despite those people being only 17 years, 356 days old. If you have a friend or relative born between 12/28/2005 and 1/05/2006, who is considering getting a tattoo, now’s a wonderful time to take them to a tattoo parlor to get it. Similarly, if you are a 12-year-old who was born on January 5, 2011, you have now been spared of the burden of having to wait out those last 9 remaining days. You, at 12 years, 356 days old, are allowed to join YouTube today at an age that would normally not be allowed.

Similarly, for finite prison sentences with a scheduled release date between now and 1/05/2024, if the sentence was six months or longer, those prisoners were already released 48 hours ago. A person sentenced on January 4, 2017, to seven years in prison, even with no modifications to the release date along the way, actually served only 6 years, 355 days in prison.

If you are the parent of someone who was born after December 27, 2002, but no later than January 5, 2003, and you are planning to take him or her to the Encore Casino this week, make sure to bring your passport. If the guard rejects your child simply for being 20, you need to convince the guard that this is a unique situation; the ordeal that includes your child’s 21st birthday has already begun. In a perfect world, intrusive thought ordeals of this magnitude, scoring “Magnitude 11” on the Richter scale for setbacks, disappointments, and other ordeals, should never, ever, ever happen to anyone. If the guard remains firm when saying, “We don’t allow guests under 21 no matter what”, and the guard is being stubborn and won’t believe you, you need to fight against the guard. If the guard threatens to call law enforcement for you allegedly letting your 20-year-360-day-old son or daughter into the casino, despite Raymond having a traumatic intrusive thought and disappointment about one of his beloved favorite people (Michael Blackwell), feel free to grab a heavy object, preferably a baseball bat, and beat the guard until he bleeds. If you have someone born on January 6, 2003, or later, the guard is correct in not letting him or her enter the casino, so you should just say “thanks”, move on, and check out other wonderful places in Encore Boston Harbor that are open to all ages and all visitors, such as the garden with a giant wheel, the seafood restaurant, or the elegant shops and hallways.

Sources[edit]

• “[ ]” —  e.g. December 31, 1999
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