Just got back from Aruba. It was amazing, 10/10. Island vibes, moonlit walks on the beach, blackjack, a bug report, and a casual racism sighting 💕
Cue the highlights.
Collection of vacation photos from Aruba: two pairs of feet with in wet beach sand; a gray dove perched on a black hotel balcony railing; a small blue-green lizard on brick pavers; reflection of a woman and beach landscape in floor-to-ceiling windows; bright red flowers blooming among green leaves; and a golden sunset view over the Caribbean with palm trees and white resort buildings in the foreground.
Bugs Are Everywhere
I found a bug in the wild! At a slot machine, no less. I tried to get it on video, but didn't hit the bonus round again before I hit my (very small) gambling limit.
The bug: Players who got 3 bonus wheels on a betting line would get some number of free spins. During free spins, the next spin would automatically happen until the limit was reached…. *unless* at least 1 wild icon showed up on a winning bet line. Then the player would need to intervene and tap the screen or press a button to "re-bet" and start the spins again. It only happened for these "wild" icons. I hit the bonus once and won free spins, wilds came up on many of the losing betting lines and it would be fine. But 3 times a wild came up on a winning bet line and and it happened every single time.
So it really was a bug-in-the-wild [icon]! I crack myself up 😂😂🤣
Now, a Less Delightful Discovery
At around 2 am one night, my husband and I are playing blackjack with a really lovely couple. We're joking around, vibing, winning. Having a great time. We start talking work, turns out he leads tech sales for an AI company. I mention that I work in quality engineering. After exchanging some shop talk, his wife turns to me, dead serious, and says: "Oh, lucky you. It's so much easier for you to get a job in tech as a woman!". But she was smiling, and she meant it I think?
Then, before I could collect myself and respond (and I was ready, too - I didn't need that long!) she started talking about a woman that her husband has worked with for years. A "great friend".
"Whenever she is looking for a new job, she finds one right away. And she's Asian, too, so… ya know. She checks a box."
Verbatim, y'all. The words imprinted into my brain. I was really proud that I kept my jaw from dropping to the floor.
(Also, not sure if you noticed, but I'm brown 💁♀️ so I'm sure there were similar implications there.)
But, y’all. She really believed it! She sat there for a beat, seemingly waiting for me to agree with her and say something like, "oh yeah, so easy!! Ya know, all that DEI helps 🙄". I'm assuming this, because of the way her expression changed when I smiled (not with my eyes), furrowed my eyebrows and told her: actually, nope! As a woman, I need to be twice as good at my job. Because there are people who think like you all over. Not only do I need to prove that I meet the bar at the interview, but then I need to continue to do it every damn day.
We chatted for a little bit before my husband, smiling, suggested we cash out. Not sure if he was annoyed I was focusing more on the conversation than the game, or if he was just not trying to play with all of this bad juju around.
And y'all, as we were walking away we heard the dealer hit 21. The dealer's up-card was a 3. I giggled.
Two Kinds of Wild
Sometimes wild behavior is delightful. Sometimes it's exhausting.
Anyway, we had a great time in Aruba! Highly recommend. Just try and avoid the racists ✌️