Fresh Meat
Vegas spots tourists fast. Bob was down forty dollars before baggage claim.
The slot machines in the Las Vegas airport begin at the gate. Bill had read about this. He had not believed it would be quite so literal.
They landed at A17. The first machine was roughly twenty feet from the jet bridge. It had a spinning wheel on top, a buffalo on the screen and the word jackpot in letters large enough to read from the plane. Bob was standing in front of it before Bill had pulled the handle up on his rolling suitcase.
By the time they reached baggage claim, Bob was down forty dollars. He described this as a warm-up, a figure he has since revised to a calibration. Bill pointed out that they had not yet left the building. Bob pointed out that the building had slot machines in it, which to him settled the matter.
Bill stood in the middle of the terminal with his suitcase and said he regretted this already. It was 11:40 in the morning. They had been in Nevada for nine minutes.
This is the part of the trip Bill describes as the city taking inventory. Within a few hours he was irritated by the heat, the walking and the price of everything. Bob, carrying all of his luggage in one backpack, was inspired by exactly the same things. The two of them stood side by side in the same terminal and experienced different cities, both of which were quietly working them.
They had come to Las Vegas looking for action. The machine at gate A17 would like it noted that action found them first.
All of Chapter 1: The Vegas Trip →