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My trip to the Den of Iniquity
Thursday, August 21, 2003So, we went on another long, winding drive. We bugged my father to take us to this gambling place on the way. Not to gamble, but because the building is *huge* and from the highway there are all of these store fronts, so me and my mum thought that there were other things besides slots going on at this place. So we pull in at 2:30...the parking lot is already loaded, most of the people going to the doors were elderly (and the people...apart from me and mi familia...that weren't old, looked like they were in uniform) kind of slow, dragging in the heat. When we got close to all the old time storefronts, we found that they were just trip slapped onto the side of the building, the windows blacked out, the displays just for show and on only one side of the building...the side facing the road, of course. The doorknobs turned freely in the doors, but not attached so they could open. So we go inside. The inside, except for a trio of "suites" we didn't see, was made up of three huge, dark rooms. The rooms were stuffed with slot machines, neon lights flashing, one room looking vaguely like an old fashioned boardwalk, one trying quarter heartedly to remind us of the golden age of gangsters. The lights were pretty...neon in the dark is *always* pretty...but the room was filled with the din of a single, tonal ringing, a constant racket that was exactly the same and came from each machine...a nasty noise that seemed primarily designed to numb the patrons. The people didn't seem to be happy...in fact, the people slumped at the machines all looked kind of miserable. After a few moments as we wandered past, I started to feel embarrassed to look at them. There was nothing but slots. Three....HUGE....rooms....of slots. Nothing else. I'm sure, because I asked one of the bored looking security guards if there was. He looked surprised for a second that I asked, then sort of, well, disappointed. "No," he said, "Nothing else at all." We were there only a few minutes, all totaled. I used the ladies, and that was the highpoint of that adventure. As we left, a little lady in a small black car was following us down the parking lot. I walked over to the side and waited for her to pass, and she pulled up and told me that she was, honestly, following us...if we were leaving. So I lead her to where we were parked, then we blocked things while two other people waited impatiently in their cars for the space that we made certain the lady got. Experience: Dismal. I'm very happy to say that I didn't spend any money there....partially because of the misery, partially because I couldn't stand putting my pathetic pennies in machines with titles like "Filthy Rich" and "Money to Burn." Permalink Cindy scribed this at 8:42 PM 0 comments |