Thursday, October 8, 2009
Stories from Vegas Volume 2
 Here is what I wrote in Vegas (where wifi appears to be scarce - probably so as to not distract you from spending money) about my first impressions:
"The ABC Kids Show is the largest show of its kind in North America and is attended by hundresds of exhibitors and thousands of participants. It is held annually in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas is a city unlike any other, and the discomfort it created in me started the minute we arrived - the arrivals and departures lounge contains slot machines, so you can get started right away, or blow your last few dollars before leaving.
We stood in a long line to purchase tickets for the shuttle to the trip and to our thotel. The driver of the bus approached an asked where we were staying, when we replied "the Venetian", he motioned over to the bus and said, "go get on, or I'll leave your a**es here and you can wait for the next bus." He then proceeded to insult and make fun of every single passenger on his bus. I couldn't tell if it was part of the act of this city or if he really is that obnoxious all the time. Swearing through traffic, he complained about the tourists walking down the street with gigantic plastic margarita glasses, some even have tethers to let you wear them around your neck - two hands free to gamble, and a straw to slurp with. This is a city that caters to every vice: women and men in brightly coloured t-shirts line the streets handing out calling cards of prostitutes complete with pornograhic images that proclaim "girls to your room in 20 minutes", selling flesh, selling alcohol, selling the American Dream, selling, selling, selling.
Coming from Nova Scotia, two things were very apparent: smoking in public places is all but outlawed here, and waste reduction is highly advanced. Smoking in night clubs, casinos and malls is still allowed here, it's a small difference, but when you've lived without cigarette smoke in your daily life for a while, it becomes incredibly apparent when you are bombarded with it at every turn.
Our hotel is incredibly opulent, no expense was spared in its creation: somewhere in Italy there is a giant hole where all the marble for this resort was mined. The air is scented with Italian perfume, you can walk through the shops of the Grand Canal, with its ceiling painted to look like a clear sky at dusk, and ever actually be outside. In the Venetian, every day is sunny and 20 C. I feel like I'm in the Truman Show.
The first day of ABC we decided to walk the 3 km to the convention centre. This is typical of Scotian and I, we like to be active and log a lot of miles on our feet. We step out of the hotel Sunday morning and were greeted with a handful of people, passed out, asleep wherever their feet dropped them. I turned to Scotian and realized, "you know what it is, the atmosphere here is just a little bit uncomfortable, something you can't quite put your finger on, and I think I've got it: it reminds me of the "bad" 1985 in Back to the Future II", to which he looked at me and exclaimed, "YES! You just hit the nail on the head, that's exactly what it is!" If you've forgotten those movies, watch it again, you'll know what I'm talking about.
A bank of metal containers to store the daily newspaper is located near the corner we just turned. I look for a copy of the local paper - or their equivalent of The Coast or a tourist booklet telling us what's exciting to do in Las Vegas..but no, every single one of those banks of newspapers contains booklets of photos of naked women I can call on anytime of the night or day. I am thankful I left my children at home.
People push their kids in strollers through the casinos, signs throuhgout the hotels proclaim that "responsible gaming means not leaving your children unattended." We eat dinner in restaurants at 9, 10 pm while children are asleep in their strollers, seated next to their parent's tables. I feels slightly sick to my stomach that people think this is appropriate.
We're swindled at every single turn: a trip to the mall leads to a sales pitch by a very convincing Italian guy on how to have wonderful skin. In our hotel, "for $50 we'll get you the best tickets to the best shows in town." I grow weary. I'm not a gambler, I'm not a clubber, I'm thankful I left my kids at home.
The first day of the ABC Kids Show, we arrived before the doors opened which gave us time to wait in yet another line at Starbucks and create our plan of attack. By the end of the day we were eventually ushered out by the convention centre staff, so essentially we spent the ENTIRE nine hours at the show. It was so nice to meet many of my suppliers, put faces to names, and time and time again, when meeting with new ventdors of environmentally friendly products, the vendors would sake their heads and say, "you Canadians are so far ahead of us when it comes to the environment, we have so far to go down here." It becomes obvious when we look for places to recycle our paper, or our organics. Food court meals still arrive in Styrofoam cups and plates, Scotian shakes his head, "we are in so much trouble." Meaning the looming global crisis.
It's been great at the show, the ladies of BabyHawk, Mindy and Jake at HotSlings, Linda and Mike from Happy Heiny's, Tereson of Fuzzi Bunz, Gabby of Beco, Karin of Ergo, Betsy of Bummis, Deb and Shirley of CuddlyWrap - the owners, the inventors are all here, and I'm happy to put faces to names, happy to meet like-minded people in this city of conspicuous consumption.
We've attended the Real Diaper Association and industry meetings, moms who are breastfeeding ans wearing their babies. I can breathe a sight of relief that I'm among friends. Tamara of Parenting by Nature is attending, as is Karen of New and Green, and it's nice to talk to fellow Canadians about the challenges we face in our industry.
We still have a few days to go in Las Vegas, Scotian and I are hoping to get out of the city and do some hiking in the desert, to see what this area has to offer that doesn't cost anything.
I miss my kids, I wish I was spending this time with them, but this is NOT a family-friendly city, I would not want them to see what I've seen here - the objectification of women is obvious everywhere, the blatant self-centred nature of every single person in this place, the less obvious but underlying environmental UNsustainability of a city that takes, takes, takes resources on an incredible scale and gives nothing back except green-backed paper, if you're one of the lucky ones."
More to come.
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