A Home In The Neon

A Home in the Neon – Dave Hickey (Air Guitar)

I thoroughly enjoyed this literature and I think it is largely due to Hickey’s language and humour. I found it easily digestible and comprehendible.

We see Las Vegas through the eyes of a person who has grown very fond of it. So fond of it he adopts it as his home – a supposedly most un-homelike of places. But the reasons for his predilection are both captivating and noble. To be superficial, one might think Hickey is looking for justifications for his habits but I believe his reasons go deeper than just that and he makes sure we are introduced to them right at the start of the article.

As a moral bottom-line, Hickey introduces us to his inner child - one he doubts will ever grow up. But what I find most interesting is the idea of a child and its juxtaposition with innocence and moral values in Las Vegas – where ‘fifty-year-old heterosexual guys still room together’ without as much as an eye brow raised. Vegas offers the perfect ambience for his or anyone else’s escapism which festers better/ real social interaction. He expresses his delight at the ‘little quirks’ the city offers and cites an example of a waitress who was content with what she had and looked forward to greener pastures – qualities that are of sound moral values.

He equally expresses his distaste for people without these qualities, who detract Vegas on the grounds of culture and who think culture is all about money. The reason for their unhappiness, as Hickey points out, I find truly interesting; flat line social hierarchy. The idea that money in Vegas is just money, that there are no ‘socially sanctioned forms of status to ennoble one’s having made it – nor any predetermined socio-cultural agendas that one might pursue as a consequence of having been so ennobled’, leaves the detractors of Vegas with pretty much nothing else to feed on. I have often wondered what moral codes people will abide by in such an environment that Vegas provides. I think it is all too easy to confuse genuine moral values with these reasons (and their tributaries under different guises) Hickey points out.

What you see is what you get in Vegas; there are no secrets – like most other places. And it is easy to comprehend why this might take visitors by surprise as it is so plain and simple. It dresses the usually covert or ‘colourful’ intricacies of everyday life elsewhere in high visibility jackets and saves the inquisitive any bother. I particularly like Hickey’s analogy of; ‘America, in order words, is a very poor lens through which to view Las Vegas, while Las Vegas is a wonderful lens through which to view America’. These, all together infuse a feeling of reassurance; that there are no pretences, just like being  at home would and I  think I too will feel at home in such a place.

Hickey’s final argument for Vegas as home relates to the feeling of comfort and hope. The former could be typical of any home; where things you find excruciating in one environment might be particularly enjoyable in the comfort of your own home. But Hickey wraps this around a vague revelation that he might have a habit. He eloquently describes the moments of anticipation that only a gambler or anyone that plays the lottery can identify with; ‘...Vegas lives – in those fluttery moments of faint but rising hope, in the possibility of wonder, in the swell of desire while the dice is still bouncing, just before the card flips face-up. And win or lose, you always have that instant of genuine, justifiable hope.’ He argues further that this hope is genuine, if you win, you win and even though one is aware of the laws of probability, you had a real chance. I too would much prefer to know exactly where I am at, what my chances are and a reassurance that what I make or win I get to keep.

It is clear that Hickey is a matter-of-fact kind of guy and does not like indulgence in pretentious behaviour. I believe there is something very noble and morally upright in calling a spade a spade. If Vegas offers an ambience where; people can be thankful for what they have, look forward to new things, feel free to be themselves, money is just money and social hierarchy is nonexistent, there is always genuine and justifiable hope and a reassurance that there is a real chance of keeping what you win, I think it is a good place to call ‘home’.