Hey, I Can Always Be a Lady of the Night

So what happened in Vegas this last time simply cannot stay there. It's just too laugh-out-loud funny and mildly humiliating to keep a secret. I was there for two nights, visiting a wonderful friend who was there for work. The first night, he headed to bed fairly early since he had a long day ahead. Being the independent and nocturnal creature I seem to become in Vegas, I decided to go it alone and visit a couple of new friends who work at one of the bars in The Mirage (the site of my one and only Penthouse stay).

And so the story goes, our sweet, Southern heroine is sitting at the bar, sipping her bourbon like a lady, well past midnight, chatting with the bartender and minding her business. Sure, her outfit is a little sexy, but not sexy enough to warrant the proposition presented to her by the drunken buffoon who assumed, without hesitation, that she was a prostitute. I wish I were joking. I most certainly am not. Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have been in a bar at 3 a.m. But it's Vegas. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Night two. Same scenario. Same bar. Much less sexy clothing. But this time, it's a Las Vegas law enforcement official. He shows me his badge and says he needs to see my ID for "age verification purposes." Yeah. He, too, thought I was a hooker. Talk about great for the self-esteem.

Lesson learned: If you are female, even if you are not dressed like a lady of the night, and you are sitting alone at a bar in Vegas in the early hours of the morning, the general population will assume you're a working girl. Can't a girl have a drink alone in this town? Sure she can. She can also get some customers without even trying.

The return to San Clemente brought an eagerly anticipated job interview. Which, by the way, I rocked so hard that they e-mailed the same afternoon to ask for a second interview. Looks like things are coming together after all. But it's always a comfort to know that if this job falls through or if I'm just looking for a little extra spending money, I can always count on late nights in Vegas. Apparently, I've got what it takes.