... that working in a casino is like a box of chocolates. You never know who you're gonna meet.Last night was a very enjoyable evening at work, and I'm thinking we made good tokes, too. First of all, I met one of the most interesting people I've ever had the pleasure of dealing to, and he and his wife followed me from table to table for a couple of hours, making the workday just fly by.
Basically, the guy is a sniper in the Air Force, one of only about 130 or so in that entire branch of the military. He's been on four six-month tours to the sandbox already, and just an amazing person to talk to. Of course, to look at him you wouldn't know that he's a professional killer--he looks like your typical random 23-year old kid, except that he walks with purpose and doesn't wear a baseball cap askew like a complete jerkoff. While he was in the restroom, his wife told me even more stuff about him that he wasn't offering up in our conversation, like the fact that he was the #2 ranked sniper in the entire Air Force.
I was asking him about his equipment, and he said he shoots the M-24 rifle, chambered in .308 goodness, with an effective range of 800 meters or so. That's a helluva long way to put a bullet where you want it to go, and I asked him if he'd ever made a shot that long in combat.
His answer completely floored me. He told me that his longest 'effective shot' (that's mil-speak in polite company for 'killing a bad guy') was about 12oo meters--He didn't go into detail, thankfully, but it involved an enemy combatant doing something he ought not have, so he took him out--from three-quarters of a frickin mile away!
I don't know if anyone out there reading this has ever spent any time behind a rifle, either hunting or just target shooting, but a shot like that is something truly amazing. And the fact that he did it while while in the heat of combat, protecting some of our troops, makes it even more noteworthy. Hell, the longest shot I've ever made at something I've aimed at was less than 300 yards, with a scope, a comfy chair, and sandbags supporting the rifle so that I didn't flinch. And oh yeah, I didn't have anyone shooting back at me, either.
Anyhow, I could've picked his brain all night, talking about his experiences and training, but unfortunately, the cards weren't with him, and military pay ain't that great, so they had to wrap it up after a couple of hours and call it a night. On the plus side, he said that he'd be more than happy to go out to the range with me and show me a few tricks and tips to help my accuracy (I haven't mentioned this yet online, but after the holidays and such, I'm thinking of shooting in smallbore matches on weekends. It's a fairly cheap hobby and lots of fun), so hopefully we'll get together again soon.
The good news is that he's likely out of harm's way for good, although there is a slight chance he may have to go back for one more tour this December. However, it looks like the military is still smart enough not to risk it's most valuable assets, and like Ace fighter pilots back in WWII, most likely he's back in the States permanently, training the next generation of Air Force snipers. He said he finds out for sure today, and the next time they come out to the casino they'll let me know.
Here's hoping that his combat days are over.
After that, much later in the evening, I saw a very familiar looking guy playing blackjack at a hundy a hand, but I was not dealing it at the time. But then I noticed his wife playing all of the carnival games and tipping like a legendary George. Oh yeah... then I remembered. They come and visit about three or four times a year, and always stay at our hotel and casino. Anyhow, the husband was *very* succesful in the motorsports world, and has since gone on to other business ventures. But they are really nice people and are great examples of how to take care of their dealers. I noticed that the toke boxes on all of the tables they played at had lots of green checks inside, so I gotta love 'em for that.
And to make the evening even better, I got a half-hour early out. Meaning, I punched the clock at 3:20, got my full eight hours worth of tokes, and was home in bed by 3:45 in the morning.
That's a pretty good Friday night, if you ask me.
Mikey
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