Posted on 05/25/2007 2:05:06 PM PDT by devane617
There's lazy, and then there's Las Vegas lazy.
In increasing numbers, Las Vegas tourists exhausted by the four miles of gluttony laid out before them are getting around on electric "mobility scooters."
Don't think trendy Vespa motorbikes. Think updated wheelchair.
Forking over about $40 a day and their pride, perfectly healthy tourists are cruising around Las Vegas casinos in transportation intended for the infirm.
You don't have to take a step. You don't even have to put your drink down.
"It was all the walking," 27-year-old Simon Lezama said on his red Merits Pioneer 3. Lezama, a trim and fit-looking restaurant manager from Odessa, Texas, rented it on day three of his five-day vacation, "and now I can drink and drive, be responsible and save my feet."
The Las Vegas Strip is long past its easily walkable days. Casinos alone are nearly the size of two football fields. That doesn't count the hotel rooms, shopping malls, spas, convention centers, bars and restaurants.
And that's just inside. For tourists who plan to stroll from one big casino to another, there are crowds, construction sites and long stretches of sun-baked sidewalks between.
A tourist could accidentally get some exercise.
"We're seeing more and more young people just for the fact that the Strip has gotten so big, the hotels are so large," said Marcel Maritz, owner of Active Mobility, a scooter rental company whose inventory also includes wheelchairs, crutches and walkers.
Most of those using the scooters are obese, elderly or disabled. But many are young and seemingly fit.
The number of able-bodied renters has grown in the past few years to represent as much as 5 percent of Maritz's business, he said. The company, which contracts with some casinos, has a fleet of about 300 scooters.
"It makes it a lot easier for people to see everything," he said.
At full throttle the scooters open up to about 5 mph, though crowded sidewalks allow little opportunity for such speeds. They can go anywhere wheelchairs can - elevators, bars, craps tables - but are banned from streets. They come with a quick operating lesson, an instruction booklet, a horn and a basket.
"At first, I figured it was for handicapped people, but then I saw everybody was getting them. I figured I might as well, too," Lezama said.
Las Vegas has other transportation options, although each has its problems. The Strip is regularly clogged with cabs and drive-in tourists. A double-decker bus system, dubbed the Deuce, often gets stuck in the mess. A $650 million monorail with stops at eight casinos has been plagued by poor ridership, perhaps because it runs behind the resorts, well off the Strip and out of sight.
Police and casino workers often use bicycles.
Some find the notion of using a device intended for disabled people unethical.
"It's the same principle as parking in a handicap spot," Mike Petillo, 64, a disabled tax accountant who recently visited from New York City.
Several hotel bell desk workers - who handle most of the rental requests from tourists - said they try to discourage people who do not appear to need the scooters from renting. But refusing the self-indulgent is not really an option.
"You can't really discriminate against anybody," said Tom Flynn, owner of Universal Mobility. "We don't require a prescription or an explanation of why they need it."
Michelle Bailey, a slender, apparently healthy 22-year-old, used a scooter to get around a recent pool tournament at the Riviera hotel-casino. "Four-inch heels," she explained with a laugh, pointing to her lipstick-red pumps.
But Troy Burgess, a 21-year-old optician visiting from Detroit, said he considers it "immoral" for an able-bodied person to rent wheels. And not only that, but "you probably wouldn't pick up too many chicks on that scooter."
My mother uses one, and I would not begrudge her a minute of it.
Not all disabilities are visable.
Free economy means freedom of choice. If customers want to scoot around in these things and someone can make a profit at it... more power to them.
I thought they were just lazy.
I didn't realize they were training for 'Vegas.
I use two canes to get around. If wheelchairs available at stores had the ‘tilted wheel, speedster’ convenience instead of the old ‘hooks in the back’ style, I’d use them to get around stores. Any suggestions?
I’m glad to hear they have them out there ... when I get there this year, I’m renting one for sure!
Is the Las Vegas strip realy that big and difficult to maneuver? I’ve never been there, don’t see the point.
Last time I was there they had a tram system for getting around long distances.
Yes. My solution is not to go unless I have to.
Not to insult any Las Vegas Freepers, but I spent a few days there last month and a story like this doesn’t surprise me a bit. The whole town is nothing but glitter-covered phony anyway. One more fake thing will hardly be noticed.
Home Depot has healthy people using theirs all the time. Too lazy to walk around. Their selfishness sometimes keeps a person who actually needs one from using the service.
I have to go to Vegas several times a year for work and these damn things are everywhere. Not only do the able-bodied cruise around in these but they’ll stop right in the middle of busy foot traffic and check maps or eat or talk. The casinos and convention centers should team up and require proof of need. These things are a menace.
Yes, it really is that big and pedestrians take their lives in their hands trying to cross a street. Some years ago, a cousin of mine was run over and killed there. Once I got out there and saw the way things worked, I could surely see how it could happen. Amazed it doesn’t happen more.
Your arms are an output device.
They depend on many input devices, to get energy.
It is possible for the input devices to fail, leaving the output devices perfectly functional, but idle.
Like I said, not all handicaps are visable.
Reign in your prejudices, man!
And we wonder why the Muslims hate us! /sarc.
The people who use these things in WalMart drive me nuts. They would just as soon run you over as anything else, and they all feel that you should just get the H**l out of their way, regardless of whether or not you are actually trying to get things off of a shelf.
I can’t imagine how hostile they would be when Bingo or Slots are involved. Of course, this only applies to people who use them and clearly don’t need them.
My last visit to Vegas, I saw a lot of those scooters and yes, they were being used by people who may not have had health problems.
And yes, some disabilities are not visible. One of my friends looks fine, but he has heart problems, among other things, so he does need his scooter. He told me he finds these scooters to be easier to maneuver than traditional wheelchairs, even the motorized ones, particularly among crowds and in tight spaces.
Yea, but since when is FAT a disability?
I agree completely. Still, "forking over about $40, and their pride ..."
Pride seems to be undervalued in the current market! ;-)
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