Ain't That the Way They Say It Goes

This is the last in my current CASINO series. You're off the hook until my next visit. We have no plans this week. Not sure about next week. So enjoy, or skip over. My days of telling people what to do are done (except for Hick and The Pony).

 

Here's a picture for you, taken at the front of the casino. I was there THREE MINUTES before our leave-time, so I plopped my ample rumpus down to wait.

 

You can see the clear plastic dividers they've put up between slots. Don't they remind you of the covers used to protect a special report or project that needed to be turned in at the end of the quarter? Maybe not... that might just be a teacher thing.

 

Anyhoo... this divider is fine, since I'm sitting at a round kiosk of slots, like that one you see through the clear plastic. The dividers at slots in a row are a bit confining. I feel like a horse in the starting gate. Not a lithe thoroughbred. More like a Clydesdale who went on a weeklong Anheuser-Busch bender, back before they sold out.

Try not to get lost in the beautiful carpet! To the right are the metal-detectory thingies where you enter. Or maybe they just count people. The doors exit to a short sidewalk, then the main parking lot. There's a drop-off/pickup area out the main entrance of the front doors, which are out of sight to the far right. There's a giant revolving door that I shun! Nobody wants to hear "VAL DOWN!"

 

On the other side of that rock wall partition is a short hallway where restrooms are located. That's always my first stop, after the 90-minute drive and Hick's Goodwill visit. The main part of the casino stretches out to the left of the photo. Behind where I'm sitting is the player's card desk. And across from it lies the bank of slots used for the slot tournament!

 

Which brings us to today's story.

 

It's a row of slot machines, all the same kind, five on each side. They only use the first four on each side, and leave the two end ones turned off. I don't know why. What I DO KNOW is that I'm not comfortable being shoehorned in there like a sardine. I have to pull the stool all the way out, step into my clear plastic stall, reach behind me, and drag that stool forward. I can never get comfortable, and never get it close enough to reach the slot without sitting on the very edge. There's no recessed area (like some slots have) for my toes and feet to slide under. My knees barely bend at a 90-degree angle. 

Anyhoo... I bemoaned this fact to Hick and The Pony on our drive down there. Somebody has to pick a topic for those two log-bumps to discuss! Imagine my surprise when The Pony said,

"You can ask for a certain slot. I've heard other people do it, and they let them."

"No way! You mean I could have been asking for the end all along? I'm going to ask them today! The worst that can happen is they tell me no. And maybe look at me funny..."

When I took my FREE SLOT TOURNAMENT ENTRY from the player's card desk to the Guy and Gal running the slot tournament, I said,

"Could I sit on one of the ends? I don't care which of the four. Any are okay."

"Sure. We seat for comfort." Said Guy. Sounding like a furniture salesman. "Which one would you like?"

"It doesn't really matter. I can take this one right here, if it's available."

"Okay. I've got you down for Slot #1. Come back at 2:00. You're in the first group."

Easy peasy! I went off to play assorted slots in the vicinity, not wanting to get caught up in a bonus on one of my favorites, lest it make me late for my turn. When I made my way back over there at 1:55,

THERE WAS A MAN STANDING IN MY ASSIGNED AREA!

Other entries were pulling out their stools and sardining themselves in their starting gates. But Slot #1 had an old man standing halfway in my slot space. He was talking to Guy about entering the tournament. I'd say he was an old man, but he might have been a couple years younger than me! He was shorter than me, and had his CANE leaned up against the front edge of my slot, while he was handing over his documents and chatting with Guy.

Wasn't that a fine kettle of fish! For the first time, I'd requested a more convenient seat, and now my name was plainly in sight over Slot #1, with the 2-minute countdown starting! They'd already announced for the 2:00 slot tournament participants to report to their machines. And here I was, reported, but unable to sit down at mine.

Oh my gosh! I didn't want to bother Cane Man! Didn't want to seem rude or pushy. He had a CANE, by cracky! And he might have been a veteran. I couldn't see the front of his hat. But I really needed to creep in there and get my stool set and put my purse at an angle that wouldn't obstruct my screen-tapping arm, and GET READY TO PLAY! 

Surely he could sense me there. Couldn't he? If he was a veteran, surely he had an awareness of his surroundings. That tingly feeling when somebody is behind him. Or DID he? Oh my gosh! I was getting NO help from Guy. I know he could see me there. Yet he just kept chatting with Cane Man.

OH MY GOSH! The countdown was at :30 seconds! :29, :28, :27...

Cane Man reached for his cane, and ambled off. I yanked out the stool, sidled into my space, pulled it forward and perched catty-corner on it, and laid my purse on the edge of the slot's ledge. Guy walked past everybody, asking, "Have you all played before?" We had. "Do you know what to do?" We did.

The countdown hit :00, and the mad pounding on the SPIN buttons, and mad stabbing at the screens commenced. I finished with 150,000-something points. Better than my last two outings, but not good enough to win any money.

Whew! That was a close one. I'm going to ask for special seating again! Maybe I should hang around and shoo people away if they come into my area near start time... It only takes the slightest thing to throw Val out of her comfort zone, and off her game!

_________________________________________________________________

Ain't that the way they say it goes

 

I don't forget all that

Give me back my number, how dare you find it

Move out of the way, now, and I'll be fine, and I'll show

I can go with the flow

I might not take it well

I only wish my words

Could just excuse myself

Since it's not a big deal

But that's not the way I feel 

__________________________________________________________________