3.5.03 water

I went to Las Vegas with my mother to attend the second largest gift trade show on the continent. There were approximately 3,000 vendors showing wares in three different convention halls. The vast majority of the stuff was literally garbage - items to stock dollar stores, the bizarre and cheap ephemera of modern life. It took the better part of three days to see about half of the show.

There were a few punks wandering around in a daze, looking even more confused and bedraggled than me.

By the end of the first day, I was dehydrated and halfway out of my mind. I had to leave my mother in the hotel room (with a view of the volcano) and go out in search of seltzer.

The best I could manage was an upscale Italian restaurant inside the hotel. I ordered my seltzer and sat there and drank my way studiously through the whole bottle, and then ordered another. The waiter looked surprised and when the busboy came with the bottle he pointed and it and said open? in a shocked voice. When I nodded he shrugged and wrenched off the top.

It cost $7.00 per bottle for that beverage. I felt much better after I finished the second half liter. I couldn't justify the expense (water at home running $1.00 per liter, water in Italy costing a negligible amount) so by the end of the stay, I had developed a nasty rash. I'm a sensitive flower and need tending.

share: facebook|stumbleupon|twitter