LAS VEGAS is hosting the shop.org trade show, showcasing what’s new in online retailing. I am here to investigate and see what Vegas is like for a married Aussie male.
Arriving on Saturday, I went for a stroll down the main strip. It was hot. Very hot.
The dry desert heat doesn’t make you sweat so much but you really dehydrate quickly.
Staying at the Luxor (the pyramid shaped casino), I was at one end of the strip, so I went for a looong walk to other end.
Honestly, it was pretty boring. Yes, there are some amazing casinos. Yes, there are 1001 big burgers to eat. But other than that, not much. If I was younger, single, and with a group, I could see the attraction. Oherwise, not my cup of tea.
For a town where prostitution is illegal there seems to be an amazing abundance of guys handing out business cards for ladies. Inevitably they all end up on the floor… so much so, you are walking on a carpet of boobies!!
I must admit I am also struggling with this whole concept of tipping. A taxi driver grabbed my arm and tugged me back when I walked away without tipping him. I told him that grabbing my arm wasn’t the way to get a tip and walked off. But then I felt guilty!!
The waitress at the café was quick to introduce herself by name, telling me she would be my waitress. She was friendly and talkative, but the coffee was crap. And I had waited a looong time to get it. Then a glass of water took 10minutes to arrive. Good service? Not. But did I tip? Yes. Because on the bill it told me to. It even gave me the amount to tip!!! Strange indeed.
I crossed the road and a car slowed to let me cross. Nice, I thought. But straight away I was nervous the window would come down and hand would appear asking for a tip.
Sunday today. Show starts tomorrow. Can’t wait. It’s pretty lonely here with no one to talk to… without tipping them. 
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Hi David, I understand what you are writing and the sentiment is shared.
Be assured it has little to do with not being very young or / and in a group.
If you had dream-time Hollywood expectations like so many of us, yes you would
feel some disappointment. The same goes for many other places in the USA, like LA for example. That city, in my view, is one of the crappiest places I have ever visited.
Best fun I’ve ever had was New York City in my single days. But that was in the ’80s, when I lived in Hoboken NJ, where I took great pictures of downtown NY (still showing the WTC).
I believe the soul has been knocked out of the USA and its people in the big cities. And, as for Las Vegas, it’s a lot of crap.
Some may see the beauty of it. But you need plenty of booze in you to trick the senses and I don’t drink alcohol.
There are places where I would like to take my camera. Yellowstone NP, for example, providing I could escape all the obese, loud Yanks in their caravans.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy some of your trip. If you find the good things (???), tell us about it.
Happy Days, Axel
Wow not as glamorous as we all imagine! I have a hard time tipping when service is terrible – it should be earned, not expected. How RUDE! I always make sure that I tip hospitality staff especially if the service is great. At least we don’t HAVE to tip in Australia or New Zealand and if we do, then at least it is sincere. Can’t wait to hear all about the trade show!
The “Tipping” in the USA has to be seen from another perspective.
True, it is expected in this country so poorly equipped with a social conscious. So, the folks there demand it. Good? No!
Many rely on tipping as part of their income because the wages are just peanuts.
A waitress (who probably has more than one job to make a living)
giving you bad service and still demanding a tip only fits into this picture.
A workforce being treated like shit will not behave with good manners and in a country
where plenty of money in general is worth more than human dignity you just get that.
If you work in the USA and get one week holiday a year, you are lucky and you are
one of the blessed once if you can afford going to the dentist, since not many are able
to pay for health insurance. If you look at the workforce in the US and believe they are
living in “The Lucky Country” think again.
Here in Australia we almost went down that path with John Howard and yes,luckily we
are still living in a country willing and able to take care of its people.
If I was going to a trade-show of this kind it would be a place like Germany or Japan,
unless I was locking for a good rocket-launcher or a Smith&Wesson of course.
Still, I am curious enough to read about a photographic trade show from the US and
would not exclude myself from knowledge. Can’t help the sentiment.
Have a good day, Axel
so it’s ok to give crap service and still expect to be paid? … NO IT’S NOT …. ever!