I take a few relatives to Winstar every 3 months, or so, because they are not competent to drive that far, or drive at night.. so I drive and babysit my Niece and Nephew, and occasionally my Cousin's son.. I had a little run-in with security before, regarding the children staying on "the yellow brick road", as I call it, that strip that runs through the casino, where security goes ape shit if a minor strays slightly outside the strip.. I get that it is State law, and I have complied strictly since the initial confrontation 2 years ago. I don't gamble, and since the first run-in, I stay outside of Winstar, off the property when I have the children.. but tonight..
the adult relatives were supposed to meet outside at a specific time.. they did not.. phone service, texting was not available, no network coverage (which is common there).. I take my Niece (age 7) and Nephew (age 6) inside, one on each side, holding hands, to see if we can locate our party near the entrance where they were dropped off. we enter the Rio doors that lead to the poker room, and spy a restroom that says "Women" in bright letters.. now, every other restroom I have seen at Winstar had a men's and women's next to each other, so I assumed that might be the case here.. some of you know this restroom I'm sure, there is an entrance way, where you immediately step into a horizontal hallway, about 15 feet in length.. I looked up at the sign that said "Women", and paused.. a fat white lady guard said, somewhat cheerfully, "are you looking for the family restroom?" I said "no, we got it", and entered. to the right is a utility room that we thought might be a men's room, we quickly saw it was not, and turned back to that entrance way.. my Niece went to the restroom on the left, some 8 feet from the entrance way itself, my Nephew and I stood, still holding hands, to wait for her.
the 3 of us had spent all of 10 seconds after passing the entrance way, before returning to the entrance way, with my Niece continuing to the ladies room. in those 10 seconds, a fat black male guard was suddenly at the side of the female guard, both stood no more than 5 feet from me and my Nephew.. the black guy gave me a long stare, looking me over, without saying anything. my feeling is he was sizing us up, then realized the situation looked kosher.. that was the vibe I got.. moments later, a white security guard, probably late 60's scurries up the hall and stands 7 feet directly in front of me.. he barks, "Sir, is there any reason why you're standing there with one foot in the ladies room"? mind you, I have one foot at the entrance, and one slightly pass the entrance dividing line.. I am holding the hand of a 6 year old boy, and we are in full view of anyone in the area.. the ladies room is some 8 feet away, impossible to see in, unless I was 8 feet closer at the doorway.
"I'm waiting for a little girl", I snapped.. just then my Niece emerged and stood at my side. "never mind, she's here now.. don't worry about it", I said. I am certain that last guard was summoned by one of the others.. I wanted to slap all 3 of them. we walked, located some of our party, and walked back toward the same entrance.. the white male guard was headed our direction, as he walked by I snapped "we're out now, are you satisfied?".. he gave a somewhat embarrassed grin, and said "yeah" as he passed.. we kept walking, the black guy stood near.. I walked up to him. "I'm a little irritated with you, do you know why"?
he smiled, a knowing smile. "I just had a word with your partner", I said.. he nodded and gave a mild thumbs up.. he appeared to understand.. we left.
I am pissed at these people.. but I don't know why they did what they did, exactly.. my initial thought was I was sized up as a potential child molester.. my Niece and Nephew look substantially different from me, and are too young to be my children, in the likely sense of the word. I don't know if kidnapping was in their minds. could it be they thought I was a bathroom peeper? taking 2 children as cover, to sneak a peek at 75 year old women with smoking habits and large guts? that is most of what I see at Winstar, honestly. the fat woman guard summoned the others, from what I can deduce.. she needs a good slap. maybe a stew of racism, ageism, and sexism is in play. the ingredients are all there.
any thoughts and legitimate commentary is welcomed.