I have made a lot of dumb mistakes. Some of them are funny and they even make me laugh when I think about them.
One of my favorites is about when I made my first visit to Puerto Rico. I checked into the San Juan Hotel, a beautiful hotel with a gorgeous lobby and swanky casino located off to one side. The first thing I noticed as I unpacked my bags were a couple of casino chips on my pillow. I thought to myself what a clever way to get guests to visit the casino. After getting dressed to go out to dinner, I went downstairs to wait for my fellow travelers.
I was the first to arrive so I decided to wander around the casino to kill time and maybe even place a bet with my complimentary chips. There seemed to be quite a bit of excitement around the craps table. After watching the shooter win several times I decided to join them and place a bet. So just like a “sophisticated” gambler, I placed my new chips on the “come” line in a show of enthusiastic support. No sooner had my hand left the table, the croupier stopped, turned to me and said with a cold flat voice and a certain amount of disdain, “Those are chocolates.”
All conversation around the table stopped immediately and all eyes were riveted on me. It took all the poise I could muster to nod knowingly and with what I hoped was look of cool nonchalance reach over, pick them up and then slowly turn and walk away straight toward the door. It was a long walk.
When I can no longer laugh at this story, I will know I have begun to take myself way too seriously. And that is a real bad thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment