52 Week Challenge: Question 5

52 Questions: Question 5

What kind of work do your parents do (or did)?

I think Tyler and I have pretty much answered that question in the previous posts about our parents. I guess I can elaborate on my dad and step-dad.

Larry, my step-dad, the dad who raised me...worked in medical sales while I was growing up. He sold neonatal equipment to hospitals and traveled constantly. He was a great salesman and had a very large territory. He worked for several different medical equipment companies, Litton and IMED being two of them. He could live anywhere and just needed an airport nearby. He would be gone for about 3 days out of every week. He and my mom pretty much personified the 80's yuppie power couple. He currently lives in Kansas City.

My dad attended BYU. He majored in Business Management/Finance and minored in Economics. (All of this I just recently found out.) When I was little my dad worked at a bank. After my parents divorced he moved to Southern Idaho for a few years and then settled in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has worked for many years in the gambling industry as a pit boss for several large casinos. He retired in 2015. He is still living in Las Vegas with his girlfriend of over 20 years, Gayle. She is very kind, loving, and good for him.

I asked him what he enjoyed about his career in the gaming industry...

He Said:

There is no real way to sum up my 35 year career in the Nevada Casino Gaming Industry. It was everything. Exciting, fun, glamorous, hard work, rewarding, disappointing, educational, diverse, and once in a while a little dangerous.

I worked from the northern most point in Nevada (Jackpot) to the southern most point (Prim State Line.) But the biggest share of my time was in the Las Vegas area (the Strip and downtown Freemont Street.)

One of the things that I liked most was working with people from all over the world and having customers from all over the world. I also liked being a teacher. Helping new dealers learn the skills and procedures to make them successful in their new careers. But what I liked most was that every day was different.

Being a Pit Boss on the Las Vegas Strip was very exciting. People knew who I was and I received a lot of respect. But I had to earn that respect by doing a good job, treating people fairly, and knowing how to handle many different kinds of situations. Of course when I walked into the Pit at 6' 5'' and wearing a good suit and tie it didn't hurt my image either.

The casino industry afforded me many opportunities that I would not have had working in a bank office or sitting on a tractor planting corn in Provo, Utah. While most of the gambling customers were average folks looking for a good exciting time on a budget, every day was different. You never knew who would walk in and sit down at one of your tables. I had the opportunity to meet and socialize with celebrities, movie stars, entertainers, pro athletes, and national politicians. My job really expanded my view of the world.

I guess this about sums up my gaming career. There was good and bad. But for me the good outweighed the bad. The gaming life is not for everyone, but it was a profession that I enjoyed. I would not have changed a thing about my job. Love you, Dad.