Muerte A Las Vegas

If you have spent any amount of time with me, you have probably heard me rant about how much I hate Las Vegas - the waste, the money, the exploitation. It’s really the Capitalism of it all that I hate. Left to my own devices, I would write a 30,000-word broadside, self-publish it, and stand on the Strip in sackcloth, forcing it into people’s hands. That exercise would turn me into a Vegas fixture, yet another tourist draw, at which point I would have to self-exile to the barren desert beyond to wander the rest of my days.

Instead of doing that, I am going to try to identify the good parts of that godforsaken place, of which I think there might be a few.

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First, Las Vegas has a higher union density than the rest of the United States. It’s a measly 12.8% (down from 16.4 in 2012) but the nationwide rate of union representation is 10.1%, and that hides the fact that the rate of union representation in the private sector is 6%. In the public sector, it’s 33.1% (from BLS). Aside from caring about this generally (and professionally), it’s also a salve on my anger about how workers are treated in the gambling and service industry. When I see the haggard faces of the blackjack dealers, pallid from working nights, and the “sensible” heels of the cocktail waitress in opaque nude tights that have begun to sag at the ankle, I remember that they are making a decent wage and have the protections afforded by a collective bargaining agreement. Union contracts have a spillover effect; non-union workers are generally paid commensurate to people in similar union jobs and unions prevent the most egregious conduct of employers from proliferating at the ballot box.

This brings me to another good thing about Las Vegas: all those union workers have turned Nevada blue. I got to witness this transformation firsthand in 2008 when I was doing voter protection work for the AFL-CIO in Las Vegas. Along with colleagues from the ACLU and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, I organized union workers and lawyers from Nevada and California to protect the vote at precincts throughout Clark County. I spent election day in 2008 manning (womaning?) the phones to provide advice to poll watchers who identified voter harassment or disenfranchisement. Here’s the cool part, though. The number of Democratic voters who showed up to vote, stayed patient with lines, and cast their ballot far exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. As the polls closed, we worried that the voters in line to vote would leave because it was apparent Obama had already won; instead, people stayed to vote so they could be a part of the wave. Fireworks exploded in every neighborhood and I cried happy tears as I drove to a local bar (okay, I think it was a Chili’s) to celebrate Obama’s victory.

That brings me to the third good thing about Las Vegas, and it’s unrelated to the other two. Because Las Vegas is unique as an entertainment magnet for adults and it’s reachable from even the smallest regional airports, it’s the only place in the United States that almost everyone can get to. That means it’s a great place for reunions, bachelor/ette parties, weddings, birthdays, etc. This past weekend, I rented a huge house with a pool in Henderson for my friend’s 40th birthday. My friend has had a lot of challenges in her life but she is sui generis, and draws people to her like moths to a flame. I am one of her moths, and I invited several other people who have loved and nurtured her over the years to meet up in Vegas to hang out. We were from Oakland, SF, Atlanta, Massachusetts, and Cedar Rapids. I don’t think we could have found anywhere else with four huge bedrooms, a giant pool with a water slide, a koi pond, a singalong fire circle, and teepee, where eight people who haven’t seen each other in decades could all relax and enjoy each other.

I am therefore begrudgingly and maybe temporarily burying my hatchet about Las Vegas. I am going back to speak at a conference next month, so we’ll see how long the good feelings last.

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