Start With A Bang... (Originally Published 8 Jul 2008)

Start With A Bang...

Current mood:disappointed

Saturday night came and, after working out, taking care of laundry and napping, I ironed a shirt, packed my bag and walked down to the Jitney stop.  I was on my way to meet my boys at Caesars.  The weather was thick with humidity but thankfully the heat had dissipated and I wasn't pouring sweat.  They were gambling a bit to raise their point score so they could get a chance at a huge drawing.  It's all rather arcane to me, I don't gamble but, sitting there watching the pretty colours and video screens made me want to sit right down, put money in the slot and mindlessly pass the time away like the rest of the humanity that visited our island of love for the weekend.  And that humanity was in the "horde" category.  Shoobies were EVERYWHERE and they did what shoobies do best; get on my nerves.  We had decided to eat, after muchdeliberation, at a small traditional Chinese restaurant located near the boardwalk entrance of Caesars.  Only about sixty feet away but it could have been miles with all the shoobies standing in-between.  We finally made our way to the queue that had formed out front and stood.  And stood.  And stood.  The wait was over a half an hour and we were finally seated.  The clientele was overwhelmingly Asian, I counted only three other Caucasian tables during our time there.  And our time there was long and tedious.  It seems a bit of discrimination was going on and it was hard to miss.  We ordered right away, the menu had been posted at the entrance and we had the better part ofan hour waiting in line to contemplate it and make our choices.  But it was quite a huge coincidence that Asian patrons who were sat after us were on their second or third courses whilst we and the other non-occidentals in the room sat with our complimentary tea and still waited for our food.  And waited and waited.  Once a nearby table and us began to complain, they fell all over us with apologies and excuses; the holiday, only two chefs working, etc., etc.  It was all bullshit but we were starving and I had to get to work in half an hour.  Our food finally came and it was delicious.  It was not "worth the wait" delicious but it was quite tasty and satisfying. They took our drinks off the bill as an apology for the delay  (mighty…ahem…white of them) and I dashed to work to set up for an evening of fun and revelry. 

The night was just a little busier than usual, not the gangbuster I was hoping for since this was the Fourth of July holiday, the official opening of the summer season.  My boys came in later and things were going along fine.  At one point, one of my boys had left but I was busy and didn't realize it until I had already made plans with Meredith to go to Maloney's Uptown.  I wanted to see if they needed me to work.  It would have been nice to have the extra money.  The remaining third of my little trio of love came with me and we sat in Maloney's, drinking and chatting.  He told me why the other one left and I counseled that we should go back to the hotel room to see him. 

We did.  There were problems in paradise and, for the sake of relieving my crushing disappointment, I quickly determined that I should go and leave them to sort things out.  I knew my place and I wasn't going to aggravate the situation by staying and putting my two cents in where it no longer belonged. 

At home, my mobile kept ringing but I ignored it.  They were messages from one of my boys.  I thought it best not to respond, until they resolved things amongst themselves. 

I spent Sunday and Monday in my room, taking quick forays out for food and such but I decided to act the hermit and shun most human contact until I have to work on Tuesday. 

I hope to see them again.