Landing at Las Vegas

You are greeted by the sound of slot machines as soon as you exit the plane at McCarren international Airport and you know you are in Vegas. The city wastes no time reminding you what this place is all about and the friendly chimes and flashing lights entice you to lay down your money before you've taken 30 steps.

There's no doubt the crowd on my plane, by and large, will pass by these slots without pause. The flight is almost exclusively here for CES (I would net even the guy with the greased millet one aisle up, looking like he could be at home on the world poker tour, is coming for the convention, is technology people aren't known for our outstanding grooming) and gambling is not our primary focus.

Aside from a lack of poker passion (some of us do take a few hours out of the day to play the tables--you'll find me playing craps and blackjack--but we are the minority), CES attendees are also known for lousy tipping. Perhaps it's a lack of experience or a reluctance to spend money. I don't really know. What I do know is I tend to overcompensate for my fellow conventioneers by overtipping. In a gesture of good will toward the denziens of this city, I will cover propper tipping practices later in the trip. In the mean time, please tip your taxi driver, your taxi line guy at the hotels, your dealer, your hotel maid staff, your restaurant servers, your bartenders, anyone who provides you service and makes your stay more pleasurable. Ok? Thanks.