I hustled to the shoe-shine stand at the bottom of the Forum Casino escalators next to the bathrooms. The shoe shiner was missing in action. All his rags, brushes and tins of polish were there but he wasn't. Thinking he was in the bathroom, I decided to wait for him... and wait... and wait. Twenty minutes later (and after checking the bathroom) I'm on the phone with the hotel operator trying to find out if the shoe-shiner wears a beeper. No such luck.
Finally a man comes down the escalator dressed in his black and whites. Our eyes meet and I nod at him urgently. His name-tag on his vest reads "Ricky."
"Dude, uh... Ricky, I have a $30.00 tip for you but I need these shoes polished in the next twenty minutes. Where have you been? I've been waiting here for almost a half-hour."
"Sorry," Ricky says, "I'll have them ready for you in 15 minutes—how's that?"
"That's perfect," I reply. Fifteen minutes was just enough time for me to head to my secret location in the bowels of the basement and smoke a cigarette.
I return to pick up the shoes but realize I forgot to get change for the $100.00 bill.
"Ricky, are you going to be here for a few more minutes? I gotta get these shoes back to Mr. Bigbucks and get change for your tip."
Ricky points to the ceiling and says, "You can find me upstairs at the sports bar."
I look at him in confusion. "What will you be doing up there?"
Ricky smiles and says "I work up there. I'm a bartender, but I wasn't going to turn away a $30.00 tip."
Well bless my soles.
FiN.
