Experiencing the Sin City

By Eric Bates

Las Vegas has been described as the adult playground of the world. I agree. For those of you who have never been 21 in Vegas and think you have an idea of what it is like, let me correct you: Las Vegas is one of the greatest places in the world and my favorite place to visit. It is also the saddest place I've ever been. We have all encountered flawed representations of the city through movies, television and books, but actually being there is an entirely different beast.

You may wake up in a room that is fraught with the stench of alcohol and a post-coital mixture of opprobrium and latex. Despite the amazing night you had staying out until 6:20 in the morning partying, you will be forced to spend your next four to five hours asleep in your bed, in the fetal position, if not over the toilet of the hotel bathroom.

When you do make it up out of bed, you will waste no time in finding the nearest buffet and will mainline food like you haven't seen it in months.

Gambling, which I do excessively and compulsively, is a ritualistic discipline which is hard to conceptualize and explain, but I will try anyway.

When you sit down at a table a feeling of freed sensual pleasure from mental interference engulfs you. You will find no hunger for life beyond the immediacies of free alcohol, air and money. Although euphoria is common at a table, it soon disappears when you lose all of your money, which happens far too often to most people.

You may lose $200, but at least your drunk from an exorbitant amount of free alcohol, which is like winning anyway.

I don't think that I will ever be able to determine whether Las Vegas is marred because of its Caligulian excesses or if that is what makes it beautiful.

Unfortunately, it is easy to fall into an addiction to this life style, which will only briefly supply a paltry amount of solace.

When you leave and look back on your trip, you will feel like you were an accomplice in some type of edgy perversion that transcends real life. It is because you have.

Eric Bates is a senior political science major.