With the world in chaos about a new virus spreading around with no way how it’s being contracted to others, it easily puts everyone around you into a panic. It was so bad that we couldn’t keep up having water, toilet paper or even towel papers on the floor for no more than an hour per day. The frenzy and the media kept making the situation worse by the day making people's deepest fears of being isolated starting to come to reality, with that happening it made the lines at my job longer by the day as others became paranoid hoping we would supply their needs. I just like everyone else at my job became easily overwhelmed with the massive volume that we had to face even before the doors opened, clocking out was the biggest relief of the day that we were looking forward to. My only problem was that I had a mountain of texts waiting for me full of people only talking about the same subject (which was the one I was trying to avoid) and coming home to my mother who is constantly watching the news wanting nothing else but to talk about that as well. When the people I care about start to panic then I start to as well because it’s hard to be strong for everybody when they try to convince you to be scared of the unknown, I felt outcasted by the people around me because I wasn’t worried like they were. My mother even grew frustrated with me because she didn’t think I took the situation seriously, the truth was I understood how serious it was I just didn’t want to be succumbed to fear. When my job told me I had to take time off from work the first thing I thought was to not be quarantined at my house for the whole time because calming my mother was about the virus was tiring in itself, I love her to death but it was hard to convince her otherwise. I made a daring decision to escape my home for the week and impulsively booked a flight back to Las Vegas, quite possibly the worst place to travel due to its high tourist attractions. When I saw the flight was a 3rd of what I paid from my previous trip last month, I took the chance immediately. As much as I didn’t want to leave my mother and the rest of those behind me, I had to go so I could get some peace of mind. Be careful what you wish for.
On the morning that I left to the airport, the bus ride there was pretty empty which didn’t bother me too much but when I realized that one of the busiest freeways in the United States (the 405) barely had any cars in it that’s when I started to become curious on how much further this can go. When I arrived at the airport it was still a little faint of volume compared to others times I had been there which I thought was interesting but it wasn’t until I got on the plane and saw the seats behind the wings of the plane were empty, that was the moment I became suspicious about how serious this was. I dropped off my bag at the hotel then picked up some breakfast and some things for the room then decided to watch a movie after I got situated in the room, had I known walking into that movie theater would change the way I saw this trip I would’ve taken it more seriously. I’ve always wanted to have a movie theater to myself (mostly for photography purposes) but I didn’t think it would ever come true, yet at the same time I noticed how incredibly lonely I became at the same time. As cool as this was, I had nobody to share this moment with. When I went to dinner that same night to a very popular Vietnamese restaurant that’s always busy, it was unexpectedly empty with only 4 or so people eating in there. I was saying to myself on the walk home that if things are this empty on the first night, what would tomorrow bring? I went to a buffet the following morning which again had about 4 or 5 people eating before I got there and when they sat me down they told me that the buffet had new rules such as: “the chef has to serve you for now on”, “you cannot touch the plates”, “we now serve with plastic utensils until further notice”. The ice cream machine was off as well (because they don’t want anyone touching the lever), things were getting eerie at that point. I waited until dusk to take a walk to a restaurant to up on the north side of the strip and I couldn’t help but notice how empty it was on the way there, 2 casinos were closed that day and they had the police there guarding the entrance (that’s how I knew this was serious). The restaurant was busy and the food was delicious as always, I started to walk back to the hotel but something in my head told me to take an Uber instead because something was waiting for me in the hotel. I didn’t know what that was but I did it anyway, little did I know I was in for a surprise. Be careful what you wish for.
It was about 10 PM when I walked up to my hotel room and I heard a phone ringing inside my room, for a second I thought someone was in my room so I hurried up and went inside to find out that the phone inside the room was ringing (which was weird because they rarely call). When I picked up the phone the woman speaking to me said: “The governor just shut down Las Vegas effective at midnight so every hotel and casino is going to be closed, and you have to check out by 9 AM tomorrow morning.” As strange as things were going within these past 2 days, I was scared to see what the next day would’ve brought me. Without hesitation I accepted defeat knowing that this was not my time to be there, I called my mother to tell her the deal and I tried to call Expedia but they said it was a 5-hour wait to get the nearest agent so I hung up immediately. I asked the front desk if I could look at the casino and they said “Say that you’re going to McDonald’s and they’ll let you in”, walking into that casino was surreal because every game and slot machine was turned off. No dealers, no bartenders, no music, everything was dead. They turned off every game in Las Vegas, that’s how I knew that it was getting scary so I ran to my room and book the first flight out of town. After I packed up everything I was able to nap for 2 hours so I could grab my stuff and go, when I tried to check out a woman was arguing with the lady at the front desk saying that she checked in the night before and was immediately told she had to leave (I understood her frustration but it was not her place to do that). So when it was my turn to check out, I gave the lady at the front desk my remaining things from the room (sodas, uncrestables, body wash, Epsom salt) and she thanked me for that. My Uber driver asked me if I wanted to see The Strip and I agreed, seeing how not a single soul was walking on The Strip was the scariest thing for me to witness with my eyes. I know I said I wanted to be alone but I didn’t think it would be this dramatic, but like I said earlier... Be careful what you wish for.
When I arrived at the airport, I saw a lot of people sleeping inside the terminal because they were stranded and had nowhere to go. It honestly frightened me to see people just laying out motionless because it looked like I just barely missed a disaster, the plane ride home was a little more crowded this time (not by much) because it felt like everyone on the plane was thinking the same thing (which was getting out of town as quickly as possible). It was one of the few times where I’ve never been so thankful to be at home, even though I get overwhelmed with the world and it causes me to want to get away for a while this was the first time it actually backfired. When I shared this story on social media people couldn’t believe it until they saw the pictures (which were highly praised), it was cool but it was lonely and scary at the same time. I learned that I’d rather be isolated in a room by myself than in a city where nobody is around. The morning after I unexpectedly returned home, my original flight coming home was changed 3 times. Impulsively leaving town was actually a smart move because I would’ve been stuck there like everyone else in that airport, I would’ve come home more miserable than I already was. I learned a lot from this trip, this was an experience I would NEVER forget. Even though I said it 3 times already, I’ll say it again. No matter how much you wish for something crazy to happen and once you finally get it with overwhelming results, remember that when dreams come true sometimes they can have consequences. So for the last time… Be careful what you wish for.
stay safe
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