The Price Is Right

The phone rang on Friday and when I looked at the caller ID it showed a 1-800 number, which I usually ignore. But for some reason I decided to answer. It turned out to be an offer for a trip to the Beau Rivage in Biloxi for a three night stay. Even though the recording mentioned April 19th and I knew that was out of the question, I decided to go ahead and listen to the details. What could it hurt? So when prompted, I pushed "one". I'll play their silly game. An operator came on and she informed me that the April 19th trip was no longer available, but they did have openings for their May 10th trip. Would I be interested in that one? Well, I might be, but first, tell me what kind of deal we're talking about. Up to that point, nothing had been mentioned about the cost. I figured she was trying to hook me before she lowered the boom. And that's when she whispered that magic word I so love to hear: FREE! Oh my! Did she just say, free? A junket to Biloxi?Flying out of Knoxville? Three nights at the Beau Rivage? Oh, hell yeah! I signed on to that excursion before she had time to retract the offer. Because surely to God she had the wrong number. I'm no high roller. But she seemed fine with everything, including my travel companion - PhillyTwo, who happened to be wanting to go to the beach for a few days in May. I didn't have to twist her arm. She likes that magic word, too.