Sin City Is All About Getting Close To People; Not Staying 6 Feet Away From Them
Bumping and grinding on the dance floor, getting close to others at a dayclub pool party, cheering on your friends who are winning at a table game or craps and filling your food desires at one of the big buffets.
These are all parts of Las Vegas that make it such a dynamic destination. What it is not tho, is standing six feet away from the next closest person, not being able to gather as a group at a casino or having to sit three barstools away from someone at a bar while wearing a mask.
As Las Vegas looks at reopening in June to start its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, it must do so in a carefully monitored manner. And tho the buzz from people talking, the “Wheel of FORTUNE” noise coming from slot machines and other sounds of the city’s activity start to again fill the air, this is not the Vegas you or any of us know from the past.
The fact of the matter is that, without close contact and a lot of people, Vegas not Vegas. It’s a city built on action and activity – Sin City! – not one of caution. You don’t tip-toe in Vegas, you dive into it the way you do into one of its many pools.
Las Vegas is simply not a good social distancing destination.
Social distancing destinations are quiet ones where seclusion is a big part of the allure: the Big Island of Hawaii, romantic wine regions, beaches in Tahiti, those kinds of places. Not Las Vegas.
In Vegas, it’s about the people and the party. Bachelor and bachlorette parties.
Wild weekends.
Meeting and mingling.
Hooking up for a night (for singles anyway. Or married people who leave their wedding ring at home).
Who knows when the city’s famed nightclubs will open up again, taking away a big part the desire of going to Vegas for a substantial number of party people.
No social distancing isn’t the right match for Sin City. But it must start somewhere, even if it’s the PG-rated version of Vegas.
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