Wine-tasting in Solvang

After wine-tasting all day, we ended up at The Touch Bar and Restaurant in Solvang. It was worse than the worst townie bar in DeKalb, Illinois. One guy with grey skin and glasses that made his eyes look huge stared at my blonde friend as she stumbled first through the door. "You're the best looking thing I've seen in a long time."

"Dude, I'm gonna barf on you."

He then came outside to chat with my other friend and me. She asked him what he did.

"I'm a floor manager at an Indian gaming casino."

"Which one?"

"Chumash. Right outside town."

"How many Indians work at the casino?" I asked.

He smirked. "None. We'd never hire an Indian. They're too stupid."

"So no Indians actually work at your casino?"

"Not a single one."

"How many Indians sit on the board?"

He stopped preening and stared at me. After a rather long silence, he said, "I don't want to talk to you anymore."

"I'm just curious. I've never been to a casino. I had heard all the owners are 1/8th Indian."

"1/4th." Then he shut his mouth so tightly his already thin lips disappeared entirely. After another long stare, he said, "You're bad. I don't like you."

A few minutes later, he was calling my blonde friend a foul name and she was getting ready to throw some chow mein at him. I came up behind them and said, "Do you know about Adam Smith?"

He stopped and looked at me. "Who the hell is Adam Smith?"

"He wrote the Wealth of Nations. Let me start with Chapter One and its two major themes: the division of labour and the love of bartering."

We left soon afterwards. It's kind of cool to know that although Adam Smith does kill a conversation, sometimes he comes in handy.