At a Glance

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for."
-John Lubbock

Spouse and I have, over time, managed to amass a number of coins in Canadian currency. The wise thing to do, we always have agreed, would be to ensure that the money accompanies us on any trip to Canada.
Sadly, during our recent fabulous experience at Niagara Falls, we found ourselves in a casino with not a cent in our collective pockets. There we were, surrounded by gleaming and ringing and chiming machines, along with the frequent tinkling sound of somebody's monetary success- and not a hope of being able to test our own luck with the least coin.
Never mind, we said, and we amused ourselves for a while by watching others at play.
Spouse then reminded me of a road adventure he once took with his friend. The pair drove in a random direction from California one evening and, before they knew it, had weaved their way to Las Vegas.
After an interval in which they roamed free and explored the casinos, it came time for each to give a brief account of the time they spent. It appeared that they had been rather frivolous.
"I've spent all my money," complained the friend.
Spouse replied mournfully, "and I've been drinking."
What a pair they were, behaving in a manner quite departed from their typical characters.
Ah, but not quite that way: one had merely dropped his spare change- all in all, three quarters- into a slot machine and the other had, against his better judgement, consumed a Coca Cola.
And for a short while this week past, as Spouse and I wandered around the bright casinos in an unfamiliar country, we were penniless.