Thursday, March 20, 2008

weird things that are commonplace in vegas

1) There are slot machines everywhere. The first thing you see when you walk off the airplane (pictured below): slots! slots! slots!

At first, the slot-mania is disconcerting. (They make weird noises! They're ugly! Who the hell plays slot machines anyway?) But a day or two later, they become familiar... and, dare I say it, sorta comforting? And now, five days into my trip, I have found that I am weirded out if there aren't slot machines lining the ginormous hotel lobbies (that essentially double as the walkways/throughways) in Vegas. I find strength in their garish lights.

2) Everyone is absurdly friendly. You wait in line for a soda and then find yourself having a 7-minute convo with the soda-seller chick because she's asking you all kinds of questions you (me) don't want to answer. The most common questions:
- "Where are you from?" (inoffensive most of the time; annoying when phrased "Where do you call home?")
- "Is this your first time in Vegas?" (annoying all the time; I will never get why people ask this question - no matter what you answer, there is never a follow-up!)

3) People dress like this (below)... and no one notices.
4) Taxi drivers (all of them) talk and talk and talk. They either try to impart little aphorisms ("Everything in Vegas is either a short cab ride or a long walk"), rage through excessively long diatribes ("See those condos being built near the Miracle Mile -- doomed to fail, I tell you!") or say the same thing ("I want to see 'Jersey Boys'") in thirteen different ways until you figure it would be less stressful to just walk and avoid the whole interaction.

5) You overhear conversations like the following in the elevator (between a 40-something/smug/sunburned guy and his 20-something/visor-clad/blond companion -- both schlepping luggage):
Man: So, honey... another year, another shoot, huh?
Woman smiles, lips pursed, and pats his stomach.
Man: So... do you think next year is going to be clothes or no clothes?

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