This isn’t the “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays” column I wanted to write, but a story we covered and its aftermath is at my top of mind awareness.

If nothing else it underscores the vastly different experiences that describe life in the United States. This season and its traditions isn’t the same for everyone.

When the phrase “human trafficking” is tossed about, about the last thing one would associate with it would be an upper middle class predominately white suburb.

And yet for East Longmeadow it is the second time in the same location.

What the hell?

Please, could someone explain to me why this could happen again?

Now I’m sure some people will make light of the situation – the business was listed and rated on a website called “rubmap” – but there is nothing funny about it.

The women who were living there were forced to have sexual relations with men. This is not like the Moonlight Bunny Ranch in Nevada at which women elect to work in prostitution.

The key word here is “forced.”

The interesting question is how much did the owner of the building know about his tenants. One would think if a person had been burnt with bad publicity before, there would have been some vetting of potential tenants to avoid something like this from happening again.

The other communities involved in the investigation led by the Office of the Attorney General included Northampton, Hadley and Agawam.

Northampton? The city that gave a porno shop a huge ration of trouble because pornography is not politically correct? Somehow no one questioned a message parlor?

Agawam, Hadley – how in the name of all that is holy in those small towns did no one question a business such as this one?

There is an immense difference between a legitimate therapeutic massage practice with trained and licensed people and essentially a brothel with trapped women. Don’t you think people would question what they see?

This is one of those horrible mind-boggling stories that one would like to go away in the holiday season, but reminds us that life goes one despite one’s efforts to rise to a higher level.

Frankly, if someone from any one of these towns looks down their nose about Springfield in front of me again, my reaction will be swift and non-diplomatic.

This story reinforces a truth about crime and human misery: it can happen anywhere.

Security will be essential to casino’s success

I don’t know if you’ve seen it – it’s all over the web – but there was a fight captured on smartphones the day after the opening of the MGM National Harbor. This is the casino built in Maryland but designed to serve Washington D.C. and northern Virginia.

I was invited to the black tie opening – my boss didn’t bite when I brought it up about the newspaper covering my expenses, hey I took a shot – so my impressions are all based on photos and videos I’ve seen on the Internet.

Now I know that people will misbehave and I know that MGM is a world-class company that makes provisions for such events. Let’s face it: people who drink and get upset about their experiences at the tables have the potential for some unnecessary behaviors.

I think though with the model MGM is using in Springfield the capacity for stupidity should not be overlooked. People are already doing dumb things and they will even when they are visiting a first class nearly $1 billion facility.

Though given the proclivity of some media outlets to revel in any crime story from downtown Springfield, I could caution city and MGM officials to double-down on security plans between now and 2018.

All it takes is a one incident and it will live forever on the web.

Yes it’s the holidays

Despite the grim nature of this column, I do wish you and yours a Merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah and a joyous Kwanza.