This is a pretty weird tale of our misadventures in Illinois. You might enjoy this little tale. Some funny stuff in here too that you might get a kick out of. This story is trip from the South to the North of Illinois for a gambling trip.
My buddy Alastair and I took a trip from our hometown in Zeigler to the Windy City last weekend, and we got ourselves in some trouble. We drove through Decatur and Champaign on our way there, and we stopped to see some friends in both places. We invited them to come with us and do some gambling at the Casino, but they declined.
Our friends had the right idea for sure, but we love gambling (well we did then - read on), and we just had to play some craps, roulette and blackjack.
After we left our buddies, we had some car trouble near Odell when my radiator decided to retire. Of course we were very disappointed to have our trip go off the rails like that, and we can all relate with car trouble right, but regardless, we were really excited to be out on the road and away from work.
I should point out, that this short story is a cautionary one, and hopefully others can learn from our mistakes - not that most people ever really change their behaviour because of someone else's mistakes.
So there we were - stuck in Odell and forced to spend half of our play money on repairs. It was a bad start to a trip we had been talking about taking for over six months. Between Alastair and I, we had a total of three thousand dollars when we cashed our paychecks in Metropolis, IL, and by the time we finished paying for the radiator, labor, our bar tab, food, and hotel, we were down to just over two thousand dollars.
When we finally arrived at the Casino we weren't exactly as excited as we had anticipated we would be when we were dreaming up the trip in the first place. Furthermore, we were very tired from driving, and we knew we had already spent close to one thousand dollars. Almost a third of our seed money.
Both of us needed to freshen up before we went to the Casino, so we just grabbed our keys for the room and went upstairs to crash. We needed a shower and a chance to clean up before we hit the tables.
When we came back down the elevator we were really excited to get on the tables. Alastair went to a roulette table, and I went to a blackjack table. It seemed that whenever I got lucky and got dealt two face cards, the dealer would get blackjack. Whenever I split two hands, sometimes 3 or 4 hands, the dealer would get blackjack, 21, or 20 - I thought my bad luck had no boundaries. I thought the dealer's good luck had no boundaries She would smirk when she beat me, and she would frown when I beat her!!
By the end of the day Alastair and I had lost ALL of our money gambling, and Alastair had even gone to the ATM and withdrew another five hundred dollars, leaving us feeling like real losers. Even though we both talked about how it was only money, deep inside we were both feeling sick about it.Talk about your instant deflation of self-esteem.
We went back to our hotel room, drank a bottle of Vodka, and rarely spoke - except to remind ourselves that we had no gas in the tank of the car.
We finally fell asleep at around four in the morning and when we woke up we were hung over, and broke.
We sat in the car for a minute while Mark scrummaged around looking for a cigarette and a lighter.
Just when I was about to say something, Mark came across his pay stub in the glove box. He suggested we should go one of those payday loans so we can get some money for food, and gas for the car (I shuddered at the thought of getting money that way, but we were out of options).
It was obviously the only recourse we had left at this point, so we looked in a nearby phone booth directory to find out where all the payday loan shops were in Rockford. We found one that was on our way back south, and looked it up on the map. Preferably we needed a lender that advertised five hundred dollar loans in just minutes.
So we headed down the highway running on fumes stopping to share a Mcdonalds Egg McMuffin with our last two dollars.
We both watched the gas gauge closely as we drove, praying we would have enough fuel to get us to the loan shop and praying we would have enough fuel to get us to a gas station after we picked up the cash. We were in pretty pathetic shape at the time - you know - young and stupid. We ended up getting completely lost for awhile, but eventually found a town, and the street that the payday loan shops were on, and couldn't believe how many places there were to get fast cash from in Rockford. It was crazy how many there were. When we went to work the next Monday all of our buddies asked us how we did up North in the Casino. We told the truth, which made us the butt of the jokes for the entire week. The whole experience was humiliating and left me feeling like a total fool. Furthermore, we were really broke.
I still think about all of the things we could have used that three thousand dollars for.
If you enjoy hearing about crazy adventures of youth and enthusiasm, then bookmark this page so you can be sure to read the entire story.
Soon after we left there my vehicle started making some wierd noises near Odell when my radiator broke down. Of course we were very disappointed to have our trip go off the rails like that, and we can all relate with car trouble right, but regardless, it was what it was, or it is what it is.
I should point out, that this short story is a cautionary one, and shows how gambling is not worth your time - wouldn't be cool if just one person learned the easy way instead of the hard way perhaps the best way to learn is to fall down. It was a set back, but we had already signed on for the full meal deal.
Between Alastair and I, we thought we had much more than enough money for gambling, hotel, food, and drinks in Metropolis, IL, and when the smoke finally cleared we paid off the mechanics for the radiator, labor, our bar tab, food, and hotel, we were down to just over 2000 dollars. By the time we got to the Casino we we couldn't really be as thrilled as we imagined we would be when we were dreaming up the trip at the intial planning phase. Furthermore, we were dead tired from all the long drive, and we discussed the fact that the repairs had cost us close to 1000 dollars.
Both of us needed to freshen up before we even considered heading to the Casino, so we boogied on up to the suite and mellowed out. We needed a shower and a chance to clean up before we burned up the craps tables.
Whenever I had a good hand and got dealt two face cards, the dealer pulled a 21. If I ever to the risk of splitting my cards, the dealer got lucky, 21, or 20. I was totally bemused by the my dealer's good cards She would giggle to herself when she squeezed me out, and she was visibily annoyed when I managed to finally win a hand! It was clear that the house had a plan to empty my wallet!
By the time we were spent Alastair and I had such bad luck we lost everything, leaving us with a real sinking sensation. It would have been sad to be a fly on the wall in the car listening to us pretend that it didn't bother us, at the core of our beings we were feeling really stupid.If there is ever a time to feel like a goof ball, this is it.
We left and slithered off to our rented room, and didn't say a single word to each other - with the exception of the odd fart or burb. We dozed off at 2 in the morning and when we woke up we were hung over, and broke. I was clear to us that we must now look like those typical gamblers - there were some other saps walking through the Casino trying to pretend they didn't just recently lose their shirts with the same demeanor.
My whole point of concern was getting to a gas station with a few bucks to put in the tank for our final push back to the old grind.
I almost said something to him, but before I did, Mark discovered his employer pay stub in the console of the car. He tried to convince me we should look into getting a small loan from one of those cash advance branch offices which was our best chance of quickly getting back on the road towards home (I was dead set against such a stupid idea, but we were out of options). Unfortunately we had to take this course of action, so we looked in a nearby phone booth directory to find out where all the loan shark advance establishments were in Rockford. We found one that was on our way back south, and looked it up on the map. I wanted to use a company that was very common. We needed a company that claimed to provide $500 loans in just minutes.
We then continued on with the little gas we had left stopping to share a Mcdonalds Egg McMuffin with our last two dollars. We really appeared to be exactly what we were - you know - young and stupid.
We were so busy yapping that we got lost, but we still had the engine running, and we found where the high cost loan branches were on, and couldn't believe how many places there were to get fast cash from in Rockford. We we both trying to decide where the lender was.
The following Monday after we got home all of our buddies asked us how we did up North in the Casino. We told the truth, which made us the butt of the jokes for the entire week. Furthermore, we were really broke. End of story - silly boys.
