I stepped into the dealer's chair at the pai-gow table at six o'clock tonight. Two players were there. One guy had his shirt unbuttoned down to his navel. I suppose he wanted to be sure that everyone could see the gold chains around his neck. He wore three giant gold nugget rings and a cheap-ass watch with a gaudy gold band.
The other player was some lard ass fuck with sunglasses and a cowboy hat.
First hand out of the deck, I get a full house – kings over queens – a killer hand. The cowboy says, "Oh Jesus! Is this what you do for a living? You think you're a dealer? Is that what you think? Too bad you have to earn your own tips here."
I ignored his remarks as I picked up his five-dollar bet and threw it into the tray. He mumbled something about this goddamn casino sucking the life out of people as he gathered up his remaining chips. "Would you like me to color-up those chips for you?" I asked, trying to be polite.
"No thank you," he replied. "You've done quite enough already."
Now normally, I'd put this guy on a 'don't pay no mind' list and get on with my business. But tonight, I was feeling a little uppity and took one last shot. "Have a nice day, Sir," I said as he left the table.
He turned around to see me laughing at him.
Three hands later, I had cleaned out 'Mister Hollywood'. He bitched a little. His manners were on a par with his wristwatch.
So now I'm sitting at a dead table (one with no players), and I'm watching this cute girl count her money in front of the cashier's cage. She drops a dollar onto the floor. "Hey! You dropped a buck."
She looks down and sees it, smiles at me and continues counting her money.
"You need to put your foot on that if you're not going to pick it up right away. One of these drunks will grab it and make a run for the door."
She bends down and retrieves the dollar then walks over to me and throws it onto the table – a toke. First one I'd received tonight.
"Bless you, my child."
A person's class is most accurately demonstrated by the respect he or she shows to those in a service position. Every now and then, someone with class comes into the casino. They're not hard to spot.
