Las Vegas

Recently back from my second trip to Las Vegas. The first trip was memorable because I got married. I don't think I like Las Vegas. What is the opposite of a hypocrite? Or maybe I am a hypocrite, although any virtue I have is likely by happenstance.

I don't gamble. I consider gambling a tax on stupidity. In that way it strikes me as a regressive tax, or at least a predominantly regressive tax. And it is frightening to look at the people at the slot machines and not be able to tell where the machine ends and where they begin.

I rarely drink. I don't enjoy the taste of alcohol and I like to stay in control of my faculties and I have a heredatary disposition both towards liver disease and alcoholism, separately and together, so I try and steer clear.

I'm married. That wipes out most of the remainder of things I could do.

So I did shop, and I can proudly say a friend and I closed down the video game arcade at the Mirage with a spirited Gauntlet extravaganza, but not too much else. The food was good. The girls were pretty. I don't have a conservative mindset that Vegas shouldn't exist or is bringing about the downfall of civilization. I like it for other people, just not me.