Article Contributed on: 10/26/2007 7:10:28 AM
No photos with this story because this story happened way back in the 80's, before digital cameras.
An aunt and uncle of mine decided they would like to visit Las Vegas. They don't like traveling alone so they invited my husband and I along. Were we excited? Neither of us are gambling people so the excitement that we felt was just the fact that we were going on a vacation.
Las Vegas was just as I expected, a town filled with slot machines and crowds of people waiting to try their luck and go home big winners. Me? I just wanted to sit by the pool during the day and perhaps see a show or two at night. That was not what happened. You arrive in Las Vegas and you get caught up in the sights and sounds of the casinos. While I didn't have a lot of gambling money, I did have a twenty dollar bill that was waiting to be converted to coins and then inserted into a slot machine. Back then you had to pull a lever to watch the slot machine spin and I found that somewhat exciting.
Here's what happened the very first time I went into a casino and tried my luck. I proceeded to a line of slot machines and noticed a woman sitting above them. She was the one who would convert my twenty dollar bill into the coins I needed to play the slot machines. There were still a few empty slot machines in this row so I was ready. I handed the lady my twenty dollar bill and waited for my change. That was quick! No sooner had I handed her my bill and there it was...coins being deposited in a silver tray right next to me. I began grabbing my coins with enthusiasm when, all of a sudden, a person standing right by this "change machine" yelled, "Hey, what do you think you are doing?" Little did I know that what I THOUGHT was my twenty dollar bill being converted to coins and being deposited in that little silver tray was ACTUALLY this person's winnings from his slot machine. How was I, a novice at the slots, to know that the lady was going to hand me my coins and they were NOT going to be deposited in the little silver tray, which was actually attached to the slot machine?
That was the one and ONLY time I visited Las Vegas!