The dust settled over the top of the counter at the “Tiki Bar” like a blanket.

Aaron, the bartender, dusted its surface again and thought of how it was a mindless job to continually wipe clean something that would only look dusty again as soon as the next patron opened or closed the door.

“This is what you get opening a bar in the middle of a desert” said Aaron aloud to no one in particular.

Aaron glanced at the clock trying to resemble a pineapple. It was 5PM and soon the regular evening patrons would be slipping in for a drink and a shared laugh or a sad story. The booze covered the glory and the pain. The booze numbed the reality of living in this forlorn pit stop of civilization. The Tiki Bar’s tropical theme helped the customers forget that they were surrounded by cactus and sand.

Every regular customer that frequented this bar had come to this place in the desert to try their luck and to possibly make a fortune. The developers advertised it as the “next Las Vegas” and promised jobs, housing and a standard of living that the regular worker could just not afford anywhere else. Houses were under $100K. Back home in smoggy L.A., simple houses were close to a million. Who could afford that? Except your fancy movie stars who seemed to collect homes likes most people collect junk.

So they all flocked to this vision of a desert oasis. The blue collar workers came to build a city in the middle of the hostile 120 degree heat. They came to make money and pursue the American Dream that they could not afford in the big cities. They built mega malls, hotels with thousands of rooms, slick new theaters with air conditioning. But then everything was air conditioned. It had to be.

They constructed flashy casinos to attract the tourists. They planted fresh sod on the desert sand and irrigated it to make it look unnaturally green. They dug enormous holes and created beautiful blue swimming pools flanked by island inspiring palm trees. All it took was constant water to keep this little piece of the tropics lush and green. The developers seemed to want people to forget that water here was a precious resource too.

So the workers came and they earned their fair share of money and they dreamed of meeting a nice “showgirl” and settling down somewhere comfortable.