Every time this happens, a kitten gets punched in the face

Tonight I think I witnessed one of the most frightening pop culture/Vegas experiences ever.

Did you know that the Bootlegger has Monday night karaoke? We didn’t! Bootlegger, a rather nice old-school Italian place on Las Vegas Boulevard, normally features classy jazz or blues combos. And while I may not like every act, I can certainly appreciate most of them since they are at least good musicians. This is not the place for karaoke!

There were some marginal singers. One woman hopelessly attempted Whitney Houston. Nobody wins there. We tried to hurriedly get our check but their computer was down so we had no choice but to wait.

You might think this alone was the scariest part, but you’d be wrong.

[This part has been edited out because it wasa just way too mean. I'm sorry.]

No, the scariest part was the little 8-year-old girl who got up to sing next. (I know she was 8 because the woman running the “show” asked her in front of everyone.) It’s already looking sort of awkward. You don’t want to laugh at or heckle a little kid. And we had all just sat through two less-than-stellar songs.

So what song starts to cue up for this darling, blond-headed, giant bow-wearing little girl? “Oops I did it again,” by the illustrious Ms. Spears.

Seriously! Oops I did it again! I am not sure if there is much in the world that can sound dirtier coming out of an 8-year-old’s mouth than, “I’m not that innocent.” (Although we did have fun on the ride home brainstorming what might be dirtier – winner: Two Live Crew’s “Me So Horny” with runner-up, “Like a Virgin” by Madonna)

But in seriousness, what parent in their right mind thinks it’s cute or in any way okay for their daughter to be singing that kind of song in public?! I’m not even a parent and I’m traumatized! I am jaded by years of living in “Sin City” — where I have seen all fashion of butt-floss and tittie-tops — and I’m still horrified by what I saw tonight!

This may have to bump out my previous Vegas-horror moment: While walking on the Strip in front of the Paris hotel-casino at 4 a.m. on a Saturday night I overheard two drunk women with a stroller (sitting on the sidewalk). One woman said (as she motioned with disgust toward the stroller) “I should have never had this kid!” To which her friend replied, “Yeah, this kid is ruining your life!”