Wednesday, September 15, 2010

A First Impression

As I walked along the Las Vegas Strip at 2:00 AM the night I arrived, there were too many lights, too many tacky imitations of world’s architecture, too many people walking on the streets with drinks in their hands. The imitation Eiffel Tower, the fake Egyptian structures, in fact, all the fake facade looked so gaudy and cheap. The pavement was littered with flyers for places dedicated to the satisfaction of carnal desires.

My hotel lobby was filled with middle-aged gamblers sitting at slot machines and card tables, concentrating intensely. They seemed unaware of their surrounding, deeply involved in pushing the buttons and flipping their cards as though they were in a semiconscious state of being. Heads were down, eyes were focused, serious expressions were on the faces. The smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke filled the air.

Young and mostly over-weight women were wearing very short and revealing dresses, flaunting fat and cellulite, young men, all with drinks in hand, were happy and loud. Looking around, almost everyone was fat and out of shape. Everyone seemed totally happy, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. This was the picture of happiness. Fat Americans enjoying a city entirely dedicated to the pleasure of the senses. The place was devoid of what makes life worth living for me. It had no soul.

8 comments:

buddyboy said...

Well done. Perhaps, a comment or two about what drives people to come to a place as this--what lives are they escaping,and how do they feel as they drive out of town? Don't let the reader suspect that you feel superior to those poor souls.

Thanks for the read.
BB

Soheila said...

Thanks BB for your comments and reading my post.

I don't feel superior to those people. I just don't understand them. I really don't know why anybody would go to a place like that or how they feel when they leave. I went there to see my nephew who was in the hospital and was on the Strip for less than 2 hours and couldn't wait to leave. Vegas, for me, would never be the place to escape to. It made me depressed. What I wrote was just my observation, analyzing it is another topic and post all together.

Anonymous said...

A very honest observation and as it said, first impressions are quite important (and often, the most accurate). Thank you for the post Soheila, keep up the writing!
Dave

Soheila said...

Thanks Dave.

James Kostelniuk said...

I loved reading "A First Impression." I was in Las Vegas in February. We stayed at the Stratosphere Hotel. Your impressions of the Strip resonated with me. As a Canadian, I am for some strange reason attracted to vacuous American culture, as is most evident in Sin City. At the same time, it depresses me. Perhaps it is because I want to witness the fall of Babylon.

I too am an author. Would you mind telling me, briefly, how you created this blog. I would like create one for myself. At the bottom of this message, please find my email address.

All the best of luck in future writings.

Kindest regards,
James Kostelniuk
Ste. Anne, Manitoba, Canada
fox@simplyconnected.ca

Soheila said...

Thanks James for reading my post. Vacuous is a great word for describing the American culture, and it is very evident in Sin City.

I will email you and explain to you how to create a blog like mine.

Good luck.

Sean Kennedy said...

Soheila,

Ignorance
(by Kasey Chambers)

Don't wanna read the paper
I don't like bad news
Last night a man got shot
Outside the house of blues

I'd like to ignore it
I'd like to just to pretend
That the reason for it
Is something I can comprehend

I don't listen to the radio
Last time it made me cry
Two boys went crazy
Fifteen kids died

I don't know their families
I don't ask them how they're going
They're on the other side of the world
But it's way to close to home

I got something to say
And I thought it might be worth a mention
If you're not pissed off at the world
Then you're just not paying attention
You can turn off your TV
And go about your day
Just 'cause you don't see it
It don't mean its gone away

We don't talk to our neighbors
They've got funny colored skin
We see them out on the sidewalk
But we don't invite them in
We only eat when were hungry
And we throw the rest away
While babies in Cambodia
Are starving everyday

We risk our lives
We hit our wives
We act like everything is funny
We hide our pain
While we go insane
We sell our soul for money
We curse our moms
We build our bombs
We make our children cry
We watch the band
While Vietnam
Just watch their children die

I got something to say
And I thought it might be worth a mention
If you're not pissed off at the world
Then you're just not paying attention
You can turn off your TV
And go about your day
Just 'cause you don't see it
It don't mean its gone away

It wont go away
It wont go away
It wont go away
It wont go away
It wont go away
It wont go away
It wont go away
It wont go away
It wont go away
Make it go away

Sean

Soheila said...

To Sean - I like the poem.