My Vegas Bubble

When I tell someone I went to Vegas last weekend I'm sure the ideas of a typical Vegas weekend probably pop into their mind, but that's pretty far away from my experience. Sure, I put some money into some of those pretty shiny slot machines and I didn't get it back but that was incidental to everything else.

I went to Vegas with just my spouse but we met people Friday and hung out with another couple until the early hours that night. Then we met up with another couple at their pool cabana the next day. People were so nice and kind and generous and so so happy to be there.

On Saturday night we left our room to go down and wait for the pool to open for the concert. As we went towards the elevator on our floor we ran into another group of like-minded individuals also heading to the show. The six or seven of us got on the elevator in our little bubble of MFSH happiness. We traveled two stories down and the elevator door opened to a stream of guys piling into join us. Once all 9 or 10 of them were in with us I quipped that it was a good thing there weren't any more cause they wouldn't fit. One guy started saying "Who's getting married soon? Not me! Oh yeah, it's you isn't it?" indicating his friend. I had to smile at their excitement and almost manic energy they carried with them. As the doors were opening at the lobby one of them said something to the rest of us about having a good night and what happens in Vegas staying in Vegas. I laughingly replied that their Vegas experience that night was going to be completely different from ours. They were heading towards copius quantities of alcohol and naked ladies and it felt like we existed in a completely different universe or "bubble". It was almost a relief when they spilled out of the elevator door and we continued down to the groung level and talked more about how we were heading towards a completely different Vegas evening. Then as we walked down the busy outside path towards the pool complex the feeling around me felt a little "off" again. As we got closer the stream of people split with the better dressed group in heels veering off to the left and the more laid back group getting in line directly in front of us. It wasn't until I was in line and someone mentioned that the Miss Universe pageant was happening directly next to the MFSH show that I realized that once again I had been brushing up against people having a completely different experience in Vegas that night. I'm not being judgmental about the differences, although I obviously had a very strong preference for my plans for the evening. But it was just so different and all happening in the same place so close to each other.

Another thing that I learned was to always show up really early to a MFSH show to wait for the doors to open. Yes, it results in an awesome view of the show but more importantly it means that you get to hang out with other people who love the music as much as you do. Once you begin talking to the people around you, you will make instant connections with kindred spirits. Perhaps the contrast of our evening's plans to the rest of Vegas made it even easier to relate to each other and happier to spend time together. Or maybe it was because many of us had traveled from other places to be in this neutral place for the weekend. I was talking to someone I had just met that night about this later as we waited ankle deep in the water for the concert to start and when I was lost for words talking about moving from the outside Las Vegas into the venue where everyone was ..... "family" he said filling in the blank for me. And I grinned because the word felt right that night.