The sun is shining, the birds are singing – time to think about death. Okay, maybe that’s not the purpose of all those articles that tell you the 10 things you need to do before you die. But once you tack on that unnecessary “before you die” condition (as if you’re going to do these things after you die), what else are people supposed to think about? Why can’t we just do these 10 things before next Wednesday?

Actually, thinking about your “bucket list” might be the only way you ever get around to doing some of this stuff. Procrastination makes fools of us all; we put off all manner of activities, even the fun ones, and we do so at the risk of never getting to do them at all. So here’s my personal bucket list of 10 things that I’m going to do this summer.

1. Cook up a batch of grasshopper tacos.
   2. Go horseback riding.
   3. Learn to play “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top” on the guitar.
   4. Try lawn bowling.
   5. Plant something.
   6. Drink a new kind of beer every day for a month.
   7. Bake a cake for my Mom.
   8. Go vegetarian in June.
   9. Fly in a helicopter.
   10. See if I can still do a handstand front-flip.

Now, while I don’t necessarily recommend #10 for everyone, the food items seem pretty do-able. Lots of food items to choose from – including the one where I plant something. That’s probably going to end up being food, too. What, you were expecting something different? I’d have to get a license to grow that. Besides, I’m already going to be getting myself hammered on all sorts of exotic microbrews. Maybe I’ll do the microbrews in June. Beer is vegetables, right?

Every once in a while, when asked what I do for a living, I say that I sell insurance. Nobody follows up on that. Nobody has ever said to me, “Tyler, you magnificent hunk of manhood, please tell me more about insurance. It must be so glamorous. Maybe I’d be good at it.” Who knows, maybe they would. They’d probably do better at insurance than dealing blackjack.

The dealing itself is easy, assuming you didn’t blow off your fingers in a July 4 fireworks incident or something. But there are things about this job – good and bad – that you need to take into consideration before you sign up. Here are some of the more important pros and cons about dealing blackjack that I can share with you.
Pro: It’s easy. Like I said, if you’ve got two working thumbs, dealing cards isn’t too difficult. You don’t need a high school diploma for this job. You do need to learn all the intricacies of dealing, like how to shuffle properly and how to handle the chips. There are courses for that. Or you could watch some YouTube videos.

Con: People are mean. This is the first and most important hurdle for aspiring dealers. Customers who lose money will blame you for it, and call you bad names. It gets worse if you’re a woman. And even worse if you’re a woman who deals blackjack while wearing next to nothing. You can tell yourself not to take it personally, but deep down, it still hurts.

Pro: It’s social. Not everyone is mean all the time. You get to meet some interesting characters at the table, including famous people. And if you like to party hearty, you’re in the right place. Please party responsibly.

Con: There’s a lot of night work. Not just night work, but shift work. It’s not natural to put your body through that kind of stress, especially on top of all that partying. Caffeine won’t save you. Over the years, I’ve had to cut down on the number of shifts I take. It’s not something you want to make a career out of.

Pro: It’s fun. We’re talking about blackjack here. Other card games can go pretty slowly, but blackjack is rapid-fire, so I’m always mentally engaged. I wouldn’t be dealing blackjack if I didn’t love the game.

Con: There is no Nobel Prize in Dealing. People might appreciate your wizardry with the cards, if you’re good at fancy shuffles and all that. But you’re not exactly a pillar of strength in your community. You’ll need something to do on the side, like volunteering at soup kitchens, or journalism. Someone’s gotta do it.