Quote of the Day

“The suburban casino smells like vanilla. Trust us, it does. And not some lowbrow, bodega-incense vanilla, either. It smells like a Diptyque candle or fancy shampoo. Like vanille, sourced from some formerly colonized nation. Like rich people. If you do not come from wealth, it’s intoxicating, this scent that permeates the MGM National Harbor. It sticks to your hair and your clothes, quietly bathing you in status.” — from a satire of MGM’s new casino, penned by the Washington Post’s Lavanya Ramanathan, whose taxi driver asks her afterward, “May I ask, what perfume are you wearing?”