I’ve been here for almost a month and it was only last Friday that I ventured out to the Strip. I wanted to have some kind of relaxation or a deviation from work.
I was busy the whole day, starting from 7 am. From my last appointment at 4 pm, I asked the Uber driver to wait for me because I would only be picking up documents. When I told him I was going to Bellagio afterwards, he hesitated. He started interrogating me as if he were my father (He is 29 or 31 years old I think).
Lazare— “You’re going to Bellagio? Why are going there? I don’t want to go to the Strip. I might die. What are you doing there? …..”
He had no choice but to bring me. He was suffering from post-traumatic syndrome due to last Sunday’s mass shooting by this horrific person Stephen Paddock who had a Filipina girlfriend.
Lazare said he is scared to go to The Strip. I told him I just wanted to walk around, shop, relax, eat, and watch the fountain. He said watching the fountain was a bad idea because many people congregate there and they could be a shooter’s target. He told me to jump into the lagoon as soon as I heard the first shot. I told him I would die just the same because I couldn’t swim.
When we reached Las Vegas Boulevard, there were dozens of tourists crossing the street. Lazare “why are there many people? They should go home. What are they doing? They don’t care”. I told him of course people care. Except that they have to move on with their lives. They are here in Vegas to have a vacation, to celebrate a happy occasion. Of course they do care but they can’t do anything about the situation. It could happen anywhere.
When we were turning around the corner to Bellagio, we saw 6 Japanese tourists running. Lazare panicked. “Ohhh, people are running. Why are they running?” He was really agitated. Before I got off the entrance of Bellagio, he told me “This would be the last time I will drive for you. I will not go back to the Strip, I don’t want to die”.
Lazare is suffering from paranoia. He was traumatized by the incident. He reminded me of the few days after Ondoy. Pag umambon, uwian na agad ang mga tao kasi baka bumaha uli, mga ninenerbyos agad.
He’s funny. His paranoia will fade in due time. I just hope and pray nothing untoward will ever happen again here or anywhere else in the world.
Lazare lived in Palawan for almost two years. He was what is termed as boat people from Vietnam. He was 4 years old when his family set out on a boat to escape poverty in their hometown. They stayed in our country while their immigrant visas to the US were being processed. His family was very lucky because they didn’t wait for a long time.
Many boat people waited for 5, 10 years and many are stuck there until now.
Lazare, his parents and sister stayed in Los Angeles. He moved to Las Vegas with his wife and two children to take advantage of the lower cost of living especially housing. He was able to purchase a big house two years ago for only $150,000 which is now presently valued at $250,000. He thinks it will increase to $300,000 in two more years. Good luck Lazare.
