How I Got My Money Back from Steve-O

This is one of the great achievements of my life, requiring previously untapped perseverance, shrewd psychology and a bit of luck. I had lent $500 to a Steve-O and when I saw him the next week playing at the tables and talked to him it was clear he did not remember borrowing the money. For those few of you who are not yet loyal readers of my blog, you will need to refer to a previous post "Beware of Steve-O" to understand what I was up against. Anyway, Steve-O informed me he was playing on borrowed money, had a terrible trip to Vegas and was unable to pay me back. He had over $1,000 worth of chips on the table, which he dismissed with a disdainful wave, as if it wasn't even there. I felt like slugging him one, snatching what he owed me and bolting, but that might alert security and after all it was my word against his. What I did instead was smile and told him good luck.After a few more times of not getting paid I became concerned. Then a dealer and player both confirmed he was a dengenerate, owed a lot of people money and told me I'd never be paid back. You might as well give up they said.I don't like to give up so I devised a battle plan. This was my plan: Be Kind. Kill him with Kindness. When I saw Steve-O in the future I made an effort to be very friendly, but would always ask, seemingly as an after thought, if he had the money he owed me. The excuses continued, even though he was playing poker regularly. It went on for months and months. I smiled incessantly, commiserated constantly. I gave honest poker advice. I was invested at this point. In fact, I felt like I was invested in all of humanity. If Steve-O would pay me back it would prove that every single human being on the planet was capable of redemption. I wanted him to win.Finally, he bought me a pizza. I thanked him profusely. What a good guy Steve-O truly was! Then he paid me $20, then another $20. I knew with hard work and the right attitude life could turn out to be beautiful. Finally one night it happened. I bumped into him smoking a cigarette outside the casino and he quickly told me he had won several thousand and flashed me a wad of bills. He was smiling. The air was still. The weather was perfect. I informed him that I was running bad and was a little down. Then Steve-O said this: "How much do I owe you?" Like magic, I didn't even have to ask. Months of hard work had finally paid off. When I told him it was $460 he said he only had $100 bills, how about $400 for now? I told him I'd change it up inside the casino. "I don't know if I can trust you," he said jokingly. Then he handed me 5 crisp $100 bills. Now I actually owed him $40!A few minutes later, when he located me inside playing poker, he asked for the $40 change. I shrugged, gave him a blank look and said, "Oh I forgot, it's locked up on the table now. Sorry. Let's just say I'll get you when I can OK?" The expression on his face made the whole thing worth it.