Monday, February 4

Put Me To the Test

SMID's Music Monday

In the earliest years of our marriage, Don and I lived in Las Vegas. Yes, you read that right. Smack in the middle of the dusty desert of Nevada, we established ourselves in a tiny one bedroom apartment on Rochelle Lane, in the heart of town, only a stone's throw from the Strip.

He was a full time student, I was a full time bread winner. It wasn't much bread, mind you, as I worked for barely above minimum wage at a family owned jewelry store not far from our home. Our apartment was furnished minimally with our begged, borrowed and snatched from the thrift store cast-away furniture. The couch was a fold out bed, the bed was a 20 year old hand-me-over from his parents. The television (all 13 inches of it) was a gift of sorts from my uncle. The coffee table a gift from our landlords. We spent $25.00 on groceries each week. We were still making payments on my $200 engagement ring.

Poor? Maybe just a little.

This afternoon here in our spacious (by Dutch standards) home, Don and I were snuggled on our living room couch (purchased full price from Ikea) catching up briefly with the world news via CNN. At mention of Superbowl Sunday and an upcoming story to be presented on the creative betting going on in Vegas this weekend, he and I burst into simultaneous giggles.

I shall tell you why.

One day, while working on dinner in our Rochelle Lane apartment the phone rang. It was my aunt. We exchanged catch-me-up-on-your-life pleasantries and then she told me the reason for her call. She had a colleague who had recently taken a trip to Vegas and had found himself bit by the gambling bug. He'd had some real luck at the tables, and on the sports boards and once he found out she had a niece in Vegas, was curious if I would work for him as a courier and place a bet for him on the upcoming Super Bowl. He was willing to pay me fifty bucks for the service ($50 friends! Just think of the luxury!) I told her I thought it would be fine, but to be certain, I just wanted to run the idea past Don and make sure I wasn't not thinking of something which I should be thinking of before I agreed. (Let's be honest, $50!! was all I was thinking.) We discussed the particulars and I told her I would let her know.

The discussion with Don was no biggie, other than he mentioned that he wasn't sure if the IRS tracked bets etc, and whether or not I would have to show ID and sign something when placing a large bet at a casino. I thought it a fair point, and not wanting to be liable and taxable for money which clearly we didn't have, I told him I would make a call to the casino to check out the particulars.

This is how that whole conversation went down.

"Hi, yeah, I am just inquiring about the process for making a bet at the sports bar."

"Yah, sure, okay."

"Um. Well, what I am wondering is, if I am making a bet, say, on the Super Bowl if I have to like, sign something or show ID or something. I mean, do you guys keep track of that kind of stuff and report it to the IRS?"

"Well, yah, we do. We have to if it's a large bet... you know, a significant amount of money."

"Oh, well, this is a SIGNIFICANT amount of money. I'll be placing a THOUSAND DOLLAR bet."

Dead silence on the other end.

Then stifled guffaws.

Then,
"No, no, miss, I mean a large bet. Like over $10,000.00"

"Oh, right. Okay, then. Well, thanks...."

(echoing giggles as I hung up the receiver)

Easiest money I ever made for sure. Unfortunately he bet on the wrong team and my work as courier-of-significant-money-bets dried up fast.

But still, if you're looking for someone, you could take a chance on me.

Lots more music at SMID's

16 comments:

  1. Oh. Mygosh. You are so stinking funny. I can picture all of it. You know that the guy got off the phone with you and went and told all of his casino coworkers. HAHAHA. That's awesome. Love it!

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  2. Great story! I'm enjoying it much better than the game that i am having ot watch at MIDNIGHT right now.

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  3. Good job linking this to music. Now go link yourself to Mr. Linky. Thanks to you he is UP!!

    And you don't strike me as a casino rat. :)

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  4. That's a great story. I love how you introduced it with the CNN story and your spontaneous giggles.

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  5. ABBA has a song for every situation life throws at you!

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  6. Good golly, I love ABBA. And I loved this story! Very funny.

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  7. WOW! Love the story and this song! I love ABBA! I'm having fun!

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  8. hihi, that was funny. Everyone sees something from his own perspective right? I love ABBA by the way.


    Your story reminds me being in grade 4 in school and having a discussion about some spelling in my homework with my teacher or something. At one point she asks
    "did you look that up in the dictionnary"
    "yes I did"
    "did you look it up in the 'Dikke Van Dale'? "
    "No no, I looked it up in the 'Dikke Kramers'"
    ....where my teacher cracks up.


    (I guess you know the almost official Dutch dictionnary Van Dale?? It's made up of several thick parts, right? So it's knicknamed 'the thick Van Dale'. But I had never seen a full edition of the Van Dale at that moment. I had looked-up my homework in a dictionnary edited by Kramers. Too me that was a very big dictionnary, hence my spontaneous and serious answer).

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  9. Hahahah. $1000 a significant bet in Vegas. Oh my were you ever young. lol

    Too funny. Happy Monday

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  10. Great story! Sorry to hear you were not victorious in your gambling attempt.

    It appears many others had a reversal of fortune this weekend with the Giants upset.

    http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-betting4feb04,1,4221125.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

    "The big underdog payoff for the Giants money-line backers meant a huge loss for Vegas," R.J. Bell of Pregame.com said.

    "Some reports had over 90% of the money-line bets backing the Giants."

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  11. LMAO - reading away and saw "take a chance on me" and that song came into my mind. hit the play button and fell on the floor! gr8 post!

    hey, i tagged you. play only if you like. it's the Big Bang simplified. Here it is: Monday Meme

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  12. Too funny, Jenn! And I loved the clip, too!

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  13. Haha! Brilliant story! I wonder what happened back at the casino, they probably had a lot of fun!

    I should say that a thousand dollars is quite a significant ammount of money to me too, being the poor student that I am I could probably sustain myself for at least half a year... :)

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  14. Great story and a GREAT song.

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  15. This is a great story and it is so cool that you have memories of living in Las Vegas. And yes...1000 bucks is a heck of a lot of $

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  16. Love the tie in with the music. Great story. As always. :o)

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