Captives in a Casino

The decision to make our monthly trek for an overnight to the Ameristar East Chicago Casino on Christmas night was easy since we were already halfway there because of our family Christmas celebration. I'm pretty sure God wasn't tickled as we first drove to one local casino on the way and left us with our pants fitting looser in the seat, but we still had one more stop, the last and best for the evening, The Ameristar. We had a room for the evening and I was looking forward to their plush facilities.

Check in was swift. We took a few of the Christmas goodies we had from our family dinner to the room and snacked to build our energy for the night of gaming. We didn't make the million that I dreamed of, but we didn't lose rapidly so the night lasted quite long. Mike's a man with a schedule. He has to eat at specific times, or close, and sleep on schedule. I on the other hand have problems sleeping. Eating is something I do only because it's there and I think there's a rule somewhere that says I have to do it. He, as usual, became tired first and went back to the room. He left me on the gaming floor with $20, my final limit for the night. Of course, I meandered around, loving to watch the action as much as playing the game myself. There were people hitting everywhere and I became engrossed, suddenly, it was 5:00 a.m. and I'd promised myself I'd sleep that night, so back up to the room I went.

We slept late and I was worried we'd be late for the breakfast buffet. We'd saved a special coupon that allowed us $20 food credit or $10 cash. Food credit sounded a lot better and the thought of the buffet made my mouth water. Now, I know that I just said, food isn't that important, but to me the buffet is an event, a dizzying choice of just the right food in the right amount. As we walked through the lobby of the hotel, we noticed that there were an inordinate number of people sleeping in chairs in the lobby. "They're waiting for their spouses to finish gambling", I told Mike with confidence. He remarked that it was quite unusual, and we didn't see anyone from housekeeping in the hall. I shrugged and we walked on to put our bags in the car and then to breakfast.

The buffet was dark but there was a small table set up at the entrance. Lines of people were at the entrance to the buffet, but instead of a meal fit for a king, the staff was passing out juice, coffee and Danish, free. While free looks good to me most of the time, this was not one of those times. We stopped and asked and the guard told us that the police closed all the major roads. Ice coated every major thoroughfare and accidents everywhere made it an easy decision to close I 94 and I 80/90. State troopers closed I 80/90, the Toll Road, at 6:30 a.m. after more than 50 wrecks occurred due to the icy conditions. The people sleeping in chairs weren't waiting for their spouse; they were here for keeps. The breakfast crew and shift changes couldn't make it in because of the roads and a very long shift ensued for those trapped at work. There were no cooks available.

We chose to pass on the Danish, took a cup of coffee and decided to spend the breakfast coupons on gambling. Talking to the staff was enjoyable. Despite their lack of sleep, they were cheerful and pleasant. Each had a story of what now became more than a double shift. While the coffee was holding me, Mike was grumpy. Okay, I was getting that way too. This time we took them up on both. Now, it was time to hit the ATM and do some serious gaming.

Serious or not, it was time to eat, but no buffet yet. My mind wandered to the book "Alive", when suddenly I heard the words, "There is one restaurant now open." The staff was a skeleton crew but friendly and warm. We talked to the manager that lived very close to the casino. He said the roads were terrible but his trip was only a block or two. Everyone in the restaurant was filling in for any gaps caused by missing employees. Our bellies were full but the roads still weren't good enough to travel home. It wasn't until later in the afternoon when an announcement came over the P.A. that busses were finally arriving to take their people home. It was now time for us to leave.

Our situation wasn't bad, but there were people at the casino far longer than they had planned. Some most likely only took enough to gamble and never expected that they'd have to stay much longer. The Ameristar in East Chicago did everything in their power to provide for those people and the rest of us more fortunate to have a room. I was impressed that even though there weren't restaurant employees, everyone helped pass out drinks and Danish to the people trapped at the casino. I'm sure that their revenue went down for that morning because no new clients were arriving and many of those trapped spent their limit, but the considerate way they handled the bad situation and their friendly staff made this casino rise even higher on my favorites list. That's tough to do since it was already number one.