In the evening, when everyone is asleep, I slip down for some poker. Excalibur is a bit of a bad dump, but still 12 times better than the most beautiful Dutch casino. I let myself put on the list for some limit holdem. My old love. They play a 2-6 spread limit game here. Alright then. Normally I play (much) higher, but it is OK for now. I play a few hands and can’t really keep my attention there.
I’m completely wasted. I actually want to go back to bed, until a woman looks at me and says: Hi there! I am completely done and my brain is working half speed, but damn it: how does that person knows me? It takes me a while. HOLY COWS! It is SubAqua, a woman I know from back in the day in The Netherlands. I didn’t even know she would be here! Nice to see her IRL again.
We chat a bit and she arranges a players card for me. She is on a first name basis with all the staff in the poker pit. From a pokertechnical point of view, it is all rubbish and I lose $ 100 or something. Partly my own fault, partly I don’t hit a single draw. I’m going to bed because it’s 0400.
The alarm clock rings at 0800, the pool opens at 0900 and we pay a fixed price for the day, so we don’t want to miss a minute! Not cheap such a cabana, but I think it’s worth the money.
It is going to pool as it was intended. TV, fan, basket with snacks, refrigerator stocked with drinks, ice cubes, bench inside, table with chairs, 4 beautiful sun beds and towels like there is no tomorrow.
This is the life. In the meantime, the mob flocks into the swimming pool. In America, the mentality is very different: in NL you don’t have to do this, because people are not so keen on “spenders. In America people are just happy for you that you have enough funds to rent a cabana. They understand that if you can afford it, you will not lie between the peasants ;-).
Around 1300 I get hungry as hell and we order a pizza and some nachos.
Here I am confronted for the first time with the “fuck you” mentality that is also part of this part of the US. It really doesn’t interest them that you have been waiting for 40 minutes for a fucking pizza and a cup of chips. They know that in a few days you will be f* off again and will really make no effort to help you. Making jokes with colleagues and working incredibly slow is much more important.
These guys are SO slow, if they start working slower, they work backwards. Fuck me. Everyone in the line seems to think it’s normal, because nobody moves a muscle. After I finally get my food the boy says instead of “sorry” that a tip would be greatly appreciated. I roll my eyes and walk away with my food. A tip? Are you crazy? My god what a country. Nice to go to, but imagine living here. Blimey.
