The Casino

One day my friend and I went to a casino in Las Vegas. This had been my present to her for her birthday to give her 200 dollars for her 21st birthday to spend on gambling. We didn’t play any card or dice games because we were both complete failures at those types of games, so we went to the slot machines. I had gone to the bar nearby to purchase a strawberry daiquiri (virgin because the taste of alcohol made my face pucker in peculiar ways), when the bar tender smiled, looking past me toward the slot machines. 1

“Looks like someone hit jackpot.” He mentioned with a chuckle. I turned to check who had won, and the breath snagged in my throat. Jess, my friend, was rolling around in a bunch of golden coins that were spewing from the slot machine.2

“Holy Cow!” I screamed and dove into the pile of coins with her, leaving my icy beverage at the bar. We played around like pigs in mud until finally the coins stopped glowing and we were finally able to gain our composure. When we looked at each other, we were both smiling and grinning from ear to ear. 3

About that time, a man wearing gray technician cover-alls sauntered over to our jack-pot machine with a grin and he greeted, “Hello, ladies, having a fun time with my broken slot machine?”4

“What?” We both questioned in shocked unison.5

“This slot machine randomly shoots out coins from time to time, I’ve been trying to fix it for months. Sorry, you didn’t really win.”6

Jess and I exchanged mortified glances. The manager of the casino came around to see us as we were still sitting amidst the pile of cold coins, and once we explained to him what had happened, he gasped and waved his hands around in a frenzy of disapproval.7

“Tsk, tsk,” He sympathized, wringing his hands together nervously, “I offer my deepest condolences, ladies-” He bowed apologetically, as if he were Japanese, though he had no Asian traits, “-Would you be satisfied if the Casino let you stay the week in the Governor’s suite? Complimentary room service, as well?”8

Jess and I pretended to consider the matter as we whispered to each other, still sitting on the pile of coins. We kept this up for about thirty seconds before Jess turned back to the manager and smiled, answering, “Of course we’ll accept your offer, sir.”9

The man bowed quickly in succession, apparently he had visited Japan or some other bowing country recently (probably on casino business), then he straightened and explained, “I’ll have my attendants show you to your room. Thank you.”10

Once we reached our humongous room that seemed to be fit for Elizabethan-age royalty, Jess tasted a mint that was on one of the canopy bed’s many royal blue pillows.11

“Holy crap,” Her blue eyes widened as the chocolate mint melted in her mouth, “This is good! Let’s order more!”12

“How many more?” I questioned, taking a flying leap into the bed. I sunk about two feet into the comforter, and almost forgot that gravity existed. 13

“10,000 more!” She suggested slyly,14

I laughed at that notion at first, but then I remembered that the manager said room service was complimentary. 15

“Let’s do it.” I confirmed, reaching for the phone next to the bed. Jess snatched it up first, and after a moment, she said into the receiver, “I would like to have 10,000 chocolate mints sent up to the Governor’s suite…oh, no, we don’t want any beverages with that-” I covered my mouth with my hand to repress a laugh, they were actually taking our order seriously, “-…yes, sometime before three in the morning should be a good time…okay, thanks.” 16

She hung up, and we both burst out laughing. 17

What made the matter even more hysterical, though, was that those 10,000 complimentary mints cost the hotel more money than the hundreds of coins we had been sitting on in the Casino.