The Nuts

During our last trip to Las Vegas my dad, Jeff, and I found ourselves gambling at the Frontier. I heard they had a mechanical bull and I wanted to ride it. As usual, when we got there I headed over to get my players card. While I was filling out my form I noticed that if you earned enough points you got to spin a big wheel and win a prize. I was expecting the prizes to be your usual boring prizes: glassware, t-shirts, hats, etc...and for the most part I was right. There was one prize that caught mine and Jeff's eye though. It was a ceramic salt and pepper shaker set in the shape of two acorns sitting on a leaf. In other words it was a set of nuts! I knew that by the end of this trip we would own them. The three of us immediately went to work on building points. A couple of hundred dollars later we had accumulated the points needed. The only problem now was in order to win the nuts we had to spin the wheel and have it stop on a particular spot. I guess now is a good time to mention that somehow during this whole process the people working behind the players club counter got wind of what we were doing and they were getting a kick out of it. Now the moment of truth. I went up and gave the wheel a spin and it seemed like it was never going to stop. You could actually feel the excitement in the air. When it finally slowed down I began to realize that it was not going to make it to the spot we needed and all of our hopes and dreams were going to come crashing down. It finally stopped and my prediction was right it was a couple of spots away from the one we needed. Everyone (including the employees) let out a moan of disappointment. Then it occured to me how much blood, sweat and money (mostly money) we had given to win the nuts and I knew right then and there that I would not be denied. So I ever so casually reached out and gave the wheel a little nudge and stopped it on the space we needed. Remember when I said the employees knew of our plight? Well this is where it comes in handy. After I gave the wheel the nudge and we started cheering they laughed and went along with it. Today those very nuts can be seen proudly displayed in mine or Jeff's house depending on who has custody at the time. Every time we play we are required to bring them and the winner gets to take them home.