Casino talk

The Pope died today. I heard about it at the casino where I went for lunch. The bathroom attendant was discussing it with a customer who was crapping in one of the stalls. I think the poor woman had eaten bad shrimp. Anyway, they were shouting back and forth, comparing Nevada time with Vatican City time, trying to zero in on exactly where they each were when it happened. They were very excited to be in on such a big event. I had to tap the attendant on the shoulder and squeeze past her mop bucket to get to a toilet. They were still talking when the customer finally came out of the stall. She ran her oxygen tank right over my foot but didn't seem to notice. She must run over stuff all the time because when the wheels hit my boot she gunned the tank without even looking down. She had some dribble on her velour jogging suit and was scrubbing at it furiously and still talking about the Pope when I left. I came away proud. No matter what people say about Americans living in a bubble, it obviously just isn't true.