We had to make an emergency trip to the casino on Thursday! Uh huh! It was imperative that we visited Casino Town right then! Well. Right after my routine doctor nurse practitioner appointment, and then a stop for early voting. Hick is taking his cancer girlfriend to a hospital appointment in the city on Election Day. We didn't want to take a chance on waiting in long lines at the little rural church that is our voting precinct. There's no room to line up, except along a two-lane blacktop road.
This 90-minute journey to Casino Town could not be put off for another day! The casino was not the main destination. We usually go every two weeks, and it had only been one week since I last lost my shirt. But The Pony had a time-sensitive laptop issue that took us there. Of course I can't let a trip to Casino Town end without a visit to the casino!
Let the record show that Hick had already been to the casino TWICE last week! No, he wasn't holding out on me. He had to take his gun back to the guy to fix it. Then he had to pick it up fixed. It's a pricey deer rifle, and he wanted it on hand to sell in the next two weekends, because deer season is coming.
That Hick. He's so selfless. He did not think twice about driving me to my appointment over in Bill-Paying Town, then a couple miles back to the county annex for early voting, then on to Casino Town. That might be because he was $20 ahead on his casino money, even after spending TWO HOURS there on Wednesday.
The Pony chatted amiably, rather than poking his nose in his phone. He was all hyped-up at the thought of a new laptop, for which he'd been saving his accumulated casino winnings. He was almost giddy with good will and sociability. He and Hick dropped me off at the front door of the casino, and went to do their laptop business.
Of course the machines didn't want to pay me. But then they continued not to pay me. REFUSED to pay me, in fact! By the time we left, I'd lost ANOTHER SHIRT! I swear, if this continues, I'm going to be topless before the year is out!
Hick had a good day. He left $80 ahead. The Pony also left in the plus column.
"I cashed out $30 more than I came in with. So I'm good."
I was happy for them. Really. I'm not a sore loser. I know there's a chance I can lose everything I carry through the door. That's why I only take what I'm prepared to part with. I was congratulating The Pony and Hick, getting details on which slots paid them, when The Pony blurted from the back seat:
"Oh! Looks like I finished better than I thought! I just found a ticket for $30. Dad, when you come down here next week, you can take it and cash it in for me."
"Uh. No. We're going back right now. We're not to the highway yet."
"No. It's not a big deal. I don't want to go back."
"I might not be coming down here next week, Pony. Those tickets don't last forever."
"Yeah. I think they're only good for 24 hours. I can't remember."
"I think that was one of the Oklahoma casinos. I know you can't redeem them for long."
"No. It's fine."
"It's 30 DOLLARS! We're going back."
"No. I don't want to.
"For 30 dollars, I'm going back. I'll take it in myself."
Farmer H made a U-turn at a stoplight. Back we went. He cashed that ticket and handed the money to The Pony. I might have taken a cut for myself...
"Thanks. But you didn't have to."
"Yes he did! I would be THRILLED to find an extra 30 dollars of winnings today! I've lost really bad the last two times we've been here!"
"Uh huh. It's almost like you had a big win that's being evened out..."
Thanks, Pony.
ReplyDeleteI really don't need him to be logical like that, and take away my hopes for ANOTHER big win. Or even small wins, or breaking even!
DeleteU-turn? I would have spun on the spot to go back for that $30. Cars can do that, right? I've seen it on TV. Slam on the brakes and turn the wheel at the same time until you're facing the way you want to go, isn't that how it's done? Awfully hard on the tyres though (*~*)
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh! It's even harder on the cars lined up behind us! At least the U-turn put us in the lane traveling the right way. This was 3 lanes of city traffic (each way), not our little blacktop road.
DeleteI would not have wanted to leave $30 behind!
ReplyDeleteI guess The Pony was trying to be nice, and not cause us delay in our 90-minute trip home.
DeleteWe'd already gone at least 15 minutes across town, through rush hour stoplights. So it took another 15 minutes to go back, and then another 15 to get where we were at the U-turn, plus the 5 minutes Hick was inside redeeming the ticket.
That 45 minute delay is not a big deal to The Pony, who had his phone for entertainment. It's a bigger deal for old people like me with creaky knees getting stiffened up longer, and adding an additional 45 minutes before my next bathroom break.
Or maybe The Pony was just eager to GET HOME so he could unbox his new laptop!
Is that a Mister Steven following you into the casino?
ReplyDeleteThose tickets have a longer shelf life in Jersey than a box of jell-o...still I might have gone back too, we don't go to the casino as often as you.
Sometimes, I want Mr. Steven to stop stalking me. Most times, he's a welcome companion.
DeleteMr. Google says a casino ticket is usually good for 60-180 days, but it is not state-specific, and says to read the back. That must be why our concern, perhaps after reading the back of an Oklahoma ticket.
I remember a panic on one of the CasinoPaloozas about someone forgetting to cash out a ticket. Which was considerably less than $30, too.