20 January 2008

I Call Shennanigans!

A snooty Brit snootily snoots about her snooty disdain for the city of Las Vegas. She's entitled to her opinion, and she admits to being anhedonic right there in the article:

When I told my friends I was going to Las Vegas naturally their first question was: why? Most people go there to have fun. And since I don’t have fun, it didn’t make sense. If you don’t drink, gamble, or swing on a pole, Las Vegas is an incongruous destination.

Clearly any vacation would just be another source of misery, but one to Vegas was extra trying for this poor soul. But that's not why I call shennanigans, this bit here:

All I wanted was to get upstairs to the room. But when I got there, all I wanted was to open a window – something I quickly discovered isn’t possible in Las Vegas. I called down to ask why my window wouldn’t open and was informed that too many people end up jumping after they’ve lost all their money.

First, it's not because of suicide that they'd not have openable windows, it's climate control, you are in the middle of a freakin' desert you git, if they had windows that opened, tourists like you would set their room AC to 20°C with the windows open on a 40°C day. I've stayed at older hotels with outdoor patios (The Sahara for one) even on upper levels. I bet most new hotels in places like Phoenix or Dubai also don't have windows you can fling upon. Doesn't she care about the environment? She wants to drive up the Mandalay Bay's energy usage, just so she can have access to a natural breeze. If that was so important to her, the Motel 6 on Tropicana has windows you can open, maybe she should have booked a room there, then she really could have had something to be really snooty about (the rooms aren't horrible there, just the usual slightly rundown Motel 6 quality you come to love and expect).

I seriously doubt that any staff member answering the phone at a resort style hotel like Mandalay Bay would give an answer to the question she posed that touched on losing money gaming, or suicide. Staff are trained never to mention losing, and to always wish you good luck, and frown in a commiserating but reassuring manner if you mention a losing streak you are on. These people are good at what they do, they wouldn't baldly state something like that (at least they shouldn't). Makes a great anecdote, but I suspect it's a baldface lie.

And Ariel dear, next time you come to Vegas, I'm pretty sure the Deluxe Luv Tub Rooms at the Imperial Palace have windows you can open, bring me along, and I'll cure you of your anhedonia (I like a challenge . . ., and those Luv Tubs).

(If I can manage to have fun in Vegas when I broke my leg on they way there, spending half a day in the emergency waiting room, and dealing with a temporary cast, I think you should be able to have a bit of fun getting pampered at a pretty decent resort like Mandalay Bay)

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