You Stupid Slot!

There was only regrettable incident about my most recent trip to Las Vegas. Unfortunately, I let incidents like this previous one linger in my mind long after. This time, we entered a tiny casino, Mermaids, with nothing but slot machines and quickly-served, strong beverages. Though I don't like slots, I don't mind slowly whittling down a dollar on a machine if I can receive a free drink or two in that span. Michael Michael was similarly not a slots fan, until, after playing for all of a minute, ey won more than $120. As ey was racking up the cash, ey shouted some words of excitement, much to the distaste of the gambler beside me. At least a couple of times, ey gave Michael Michael glares and shushed em. This gambler was winning a fair amount of money as well, so there was no reason to be upset. If you want peace and quiet, don't frequent a Vegas casino.

That, though, is not even what I'm here to complain about. To receive eir money, Michael Michael needed an attendant to come check the machine. Since ey obviously couldn't abandon the machine, I went to the cashier to fetch someone. "My friend just won a lot of money and needs an attendant," I told the person at the desk. "What machine is it?" ey asked. "Um, I'm not sure," I said. "It's the one in the far back corner." I pointed to the unmistakable area to which I referred. "Well, I can't send anyone without the name of the machine," the person said snippily. "Even if I tell you it's the furthest one in the exact opposite corner?" I tried. "No," the worker growled. "Okay, I'll be back then," I said, starting to walk away. "I bet you will," the employee said in an entirely condescending and mocking tone. Confused by such a strong, disrespectful response, I turned back and asked, "I'm sorry, was I rude to you?" The employee then stretched eir arm out and held eir palm open about six inches away from my face. I can't recall a time in my life where I've been made to "talk to the hand," and here someone was pulling that crap on me. The problem with receiving unprovoked rudeness is I that never know how to react. It's not like I had anticipated this, so finding an appropriate way to respond was not coming to my fairly intoxicated mind. Giving the hand back? Cursing em out? Causing a scene? It all seemed so dumb. Clearly, this person was dumb. I quickly resolved not to do anything to jeopardize Michael Michael's jackpot, and walked away, mentally shaken.

The sad thing is that I will continue replaying this occasion in my head for a long time to come, undoubtedly because out of dissatisfaction for doing nothing in the moment. How should have I responded? How do I forget about it now that it's passed?