Recession Lessons Road Trip Part I: Mesquite, Nevada

Recession Lesson #1 Million dollar dreams and nickel slots will not get rid of your unemploymentality. 

 Mesquite Nevada is a tiny casino town on the border of Utah.  It catches eager Mormons itching to sin on their way to Las Vegas.  I guess that explains why the place was practically dead.  I decided to make my first overnight here because you can always count on two things in Casino Towns – cheap rooms and cheap beer.  Plus, bless her heart, the Virgin River Resort & Casino is pet friendly. 

 After checking in I cruised the casino thinking it would be fun to play $50 or so.  You never know, all you need is a dollar and a dream right?  But with every row of slot machines I passed, there were a few men & woman that looked like they had been sitting on the same stool with the same dream for several decades.  Cigarettes hung heavy from their lips and they’d long since forgotten about posture or trying to look like they had other places to be.  Instead they mechanically pulled their levers, pushed their buttons and patiently waited for their million dollar dreams to come true. 

 Shortly after I was canned another laid-off friend and I got together for lunch to lament our situation.  We started expressing our frustrations with work in general and what we really wanted to be doing.  We dreamed about how nice it would be to just get rich.  To get rich quick and just stop worrying about driving our careers forward and all that’s involved in doing just that.  Half seriously we started kicking around different things that we thought we could do to get to the fast lane and forget about the toil that we’d consumed ourselves with for yours.  Eventually we landed on playing the lottery or gambling. 

And as soon as we had mentioned it the idea was gone.

 If Demi Moore and Woody Harelson  have taught me anything in this life, it is that gambling will only get you into trouble.  Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday it’ll catch up to you. 

 This point was drilled home in Mesquite Nevada. 

 Instead of killing $50 on the black Jack table or at the slots I decided to just sit at the bar and consume a few of the $1.50 Coronas they were selling.  I figured if I drank enough, for once, the house would actually loose. 

 As I sat and watched Sports Center and admired the flashing aces on the video black jack console beneath my coaster the lady sitting two stools to my right let out a shriek of joy.  Overwhelmed she looked all around for someone to share in her excitement, but being 1:30 am on a Sunday night, the only one around was me. Thorugh her joy she was noticeably frustrated that I was the only one available to celebrate with so she reluctantly extended to her first for me to bump.  It took me a moment to realize what she wanted from me and still a little confused I met her fist with an open palm and we shared one of those awkward greetings that are usually reserved for AA meetings. 

 “I just got a royal flush!  Finally!  I’ve been playing for years.”  She said. 

 “Really?  Congratulations.” I responded, not knowing what that actually meant.  I smiled and returned my attention to Sports Center.

But she wasn’t done with me.  She asked me to guard her video poker machine, “Guard this with my your life ok?!!!” 

How could I say no. 

When she returned she was trailed by a family members she had culled from other machines throughout the floor and some casino staff – she apparently was the Casino’s latest $1,000 winner.  When I realized this I became a little more surprised and honestly congratulatory. 

“Thanks!  Before you were like, ‘ok, yeah…Whatever…” 

Was I that transparent?

A casino photographer arrived and snapped a few pics of my new ‘friend’ and her family congratulated.  I started to think that maybe playing $50 wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.  As I finished my Corona and psyched myself up for the $1000 that I would be winning soon I heard my friend breath a sigh of relief as she addressed her friend, “Ah, thank god I finally hit.  Money was so tight this month.” 

As quickly as they had arrived the photographer left, her family went back to their own machines and she popped another dollar into her lucky machine.

“Aren’t you gonna quit while you’re ahead?” I said.

“If I hit once, maybe I’ll hit twice…you never know.” 

I finished my beer and kept my $50 safe in my pocket where it belongs. 

…Next stop, The land of plural marriage and backwoods Arizona.  Stay tuned.