Viva Las Vegas!

When I was a child, my parents sent me to a regimented private school. You were to stay to the right while walking down the hall or entering a doorway. Adults were to be addressed as Mr., Ms. or Mrs. And when answering you were to say yes ma’am, no ma’am or yes sir, no sir – yep or mm hum were out of the question. Detentions were served to those who got a bad grade on their test. Being sent o the principal’s office for not completing a homework assignment guaranteed a missed recess and a phone call to your parents. Once in the 8th grade, I received demerits because I was in the presence of a boy and girl that held hands during school hours. I was told I was as guilty as them if I witnessed such acts and didn’t do anything about it. When I got home and proclaimed my disgust in the injustice, I was told, “Deal with it, consider this punishment a make up for a time you did something wrong and got away with it.”– I lost that battle.

At the completion of my eighth grade year, the decision was made that I would no longer be attending a private school, in fact I would be sent to an extremely liberal, widely diverse public school. Oh how my life changed. I was dancing down the halls, yelling for friends to wait up or meet me after school and I could say “What’s up” to my teacher! This was a complete revelation and I took full advantage.

Now that I am an adult, I feel like I am a pretty liberal, open minded person. I feel like everyone has a story that makes them who they are and a reason why they do what they do. Then, I took a trip to Sin City - Las Vegas, a party all day, every day. Vegas - The City of Lights a big city festival on steroids. Slot machines in the airport should have been my first clue. Elvis, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Allen with baby Carlos from “The Hangover” and several other celebrity impressionists were walking the strip ready to strike a pose (as long as you paid them). At 6:30 in the morning the casinos were still full. I was confused if people were up that early or still out that late. Bets were being made, drinks were being drunk, and lives were being lived, but not like I was used to. This was definitely another major revelation in my life. Viva Las Vegas Baby!

Ann with Reflection Beads