One Night in Reno

I have finally caught up with life  after vacation and a work trip to Reno, NV.  I spent two nights in Reno and three days of work. I wish I had gotten to go to Lake Tahoe Maybe next time. I was so busy, I just had no time. The second night in Reno, I got to relax a bit. I did not plan on doing anything other than enjoy a nice steak dinner at Sterlings at The Silver Legacy.

I got to the restaurant and ordered my standard iced tea, no sweetener. I looked at my cell phone and it said "no service". Perfect. On my own with no distractions, except, of course,  the table next to me. There was a huge table, two tables actually,  of guys my age. Maybe older, but, definitely the 40+ group. Then one made his way to my table. Hmmmm. His name is D. and he  is a banker. Nice enough. Very friendly and on behalf of his table, D. bought me a red wine. Nice, as I kinda could use one in the absence of the Internet to distract me.  The server opened the wine bottle in front of me, so I could see it had not been adulterated. You know, date rape drugs. Perfect strangers offering you wine. That kind of thing. Ha! D. and his friends were on their annual golf trip. Everyone at his table was super friendly. They even invited me to their table for dessert and conversation. Mostly, they were married and happily so, making it quite the safe and respectable group to surround myself with. I met the jeweler, the author and the banker and spoke with them for about an hour. I actually even got to practice some Spanish!  Then, they invited me to the strip club. Ummm NO.  The jeweler and the author took me to a bar within the hotel complex, a safer and more comfortable setting. You know. Perfect strangers and all.

The Bar: I continued to talk with the author and the jeweler. Somehow,  I shared a story with them and asked the author if he would read my blog entry on the topic and he was gracious enough to do so. He was polite and said it was good; who knows what he really thought, but he was super nice to even take the time to read it. He gave me advice "from one writer to another". He told me to write for me, not for anyone else. I will remember this for a long time. It has been what I have been wanting to do here.  Both the author and the jeweler were so respectful and appropriate (given they were married and all). It gave me a renewed sense of faith in guys who can be grown-ups, honoring their commitments to themselves and their families; these guys were great.  THEN, they somehow got me to a strip club. I don't know how they did it or why I consented, but I felt extremely safe with these honorable guys and they were smart and intelligent. They were not interested in anything but good clean fun. So, okay, a strip club, a gentleman's club as they like to say. Let's call a spade a spade.

The club: So D. the banker saw me right away and felt inclined, for who knows what reason, to provide me with a lap dance. M., my blonde "dancer" who was probably all of 22 years old, was a mom of two children, 2 and 4 years old. She promised me  I would never recognize her outside of the club, because she's "mom" in real life. This is just her job. Well, good. Afterward, D. gave me the money to give M., $100!. I gave it to her and returned to D. who asked "where is the change" and I was like "change?". He said "yes, I need change. She knows. She knows how much that was". So I slink back to M. and confess I need change and she looked at bill surprised and said "of course". I told her just to return it to D.

I finished my drink, noticing the author had left almost immediately. I would never seem him again or have a chance to thank him for his sage advice. The jeweler and I returned to the hotel and grabbed a bite and talked for a couple more hours. It was nice to speak with someone who understands being Jewish (he and his wife raise their children Jewish). It is so refreshing to speak with a man who has utmost respect for his family. My faith continues to be renewed.


The Next day:
I was DONE with work and had a drink with the jeweler before  heading back to Denver. It is just so amazing to know there are good men in this world with integrity. Clearly in my previous blogs, there has been an obvious paucity in the Denver area of such men.  He promised me they are out there.  I will continue to be  on the look out, with cautious optimism.


I wish I could tell you there was something BAD that happened. That what happens in Reno, stays in Reno. That something naughty happened. Nothing taboo happened. Maybe I am boring. Maybe they were boring. Or maybe, just maybe I had enough BAD in my previous life.

I had tons of fun and met some really nice people along the way!