Mom and Pop on the Boulevard _ Photo by Royal 

Rising temperatures in the City of Sin

By Royal Hopper

In the City of Sin temperatures and tempers rise with the onset of summer as does the consumption of cheap alcohol and the display of young athletic bodies and memories of the best forgotten past.
I’m sure it is something the man who stumbled across Las Vegas Blvd. in a Frampton Lives T-Shirt , a pair of boxers and two mismatched shoes can relate to.

Now this guy is having a bad day _ Photo by Royal 

The woman with the pair of socks in each of her pockets and a handful of one dollar bills who walked up to me and three times started to say something but could not quite remember what she was trying to ask can also understand.

Regret means something different in the City of Sin. Lets talk about regret now stay with me..

A few weeks ago as desert temperatures first started to rise I talked to a man named Frank. Frank, who didn’t give his last name, said he was Vietnam vet from Ohio by way of Atlanta. As he sipped on the brown liquid in his glass Frank admitted he was still haunted by memories of the things he saw and did in that desolate war torn Southeast Asian country so many years ago.

He cant help it. The heat of summer and several doses of Mr. Jack Daniels ethanol anesthetic bring the memories back like a lightning bolt. The very thing he does to quiet the unholy symphony in his head turns up the volume..
“There wasn’t supposed to be any civilians there,” he said adding something about a young innocent that got caught in the crossfire of that chaotic conflict.
Frank’s trip to Vegas was a gift from family.

Photo by Royal

After listening to his tale I thanked Frank for his service to our country those many moons ago and he shook my hand, smiled in gratitude took a gulp of JD and stumbled off the find a good $3.99 breakfast. His only real regret was that he had tapped into the family reserve once to often and nobody would loan him more money to play the ponies or roll the bones with lady luck.

That life in the City of Sin this week..
So Long Sinners
See you soon

P.S. Also In Las Vegas one woman of Polish extraction discovered just how empty the City of Sin can be on an empty stomach and how rummaging around Sin City food courts is somehow not an allowed activity.