happy drunk

there are moments that lead to unexpected places, happy moments that lead to tragedy, and the opposite. i was on a plane a few months ago, flying to the US for business and talking to a seat mate about life and happiness. which is when the random eastern european guy sitting on the other side of me stumbled his way back from the restroom. he was drunk when he got on the plane, and had been drinking unsteadily since take off. his completely broken english had only gotten worse as white wines were added to the fire, but his desire to speak had only increased. where do you think this moment was leading?

as he attempted to climb into his seat drunk guy braced himself firmly on his wine glass and tumbled forward. the drink was projected into my seat, it's wine splashing into my lap and onto my ipod. a drinker falling over is not uncommon and spills happen on planes, something about being bounced around at 37,000 feet while moving at 400 miles per hour has a way of helping both happen. i should have expected it, and that i could have protected the ipod better than putting it on my lap. i cleaned it off, drying it with my blanket and decided soon after it was time to get some sleep. drunk guy was dosing off, i thought i should do the same.

it wasn't until i got to the transit lounge that i took the ipod out again. the second song didn't play, neither did the fourth or the fifth; the feeling of dread crept into the transit. i decided to wait and see if more drying time would make a difference. i mean, how much damage can a cheap australian chardonnay do to a consumer electronic device. the answer was clear when i got to the US and found i was without tunes on the drive home. my ipod was dead, drunk guy was long gone, i was driving listening to the sound of my own wheels. time to decide on next steps.

being in the US, i decided to go to the mall before i left. being a US mall, it was not stacked 5 stories high, this single fact made the trip better than average fro me. i took full advantage of the ease of moving around and began looking for a new ipod. in the huge electronics store i convinced myself that my 80 gig classic should be replaced with a 64 gig itouch. i hadn't considered the purchase at all, but i was alone and bored. i decided even if it was a mistake i would enjoy it anyway. sleek, shiny and sexy, it was time to upgrade and try something new.

after a few weeks of use, playing with downloaded apps, using it as an instant on micro-laptop to do IMDB and wikipedia searches on the couch, and listening to music converted through the sadly un-slick itunes, i had come to the conclusion that i should have made myself the target of a drunk spill a long time ago. the only downside to the touch was lack of internet connection while mobile. the device lost all its charm and glamor when it was away from wifi.

it's a happy coincidence that the holiday season was coming, it allowed me to do the only sensible thing; buy myself a present i didn't actually need. i am now the proud owner of an iphone, a slightly fatter touch with a 3G connection ensuring always on internet. so i own yet another phone, yet another computer device, one more thing to carry and track. i have my blackberry as primary phone and the touch as a music device, but i love my iphone. it is a near perfect computer device.

i was asked if i got mad at the drunk guy for spilling a drink on me or for turning my ipod into a paperweight. i might have years ago, but now i think of the question as funny; why would i get mad at someone for a mistake? life happens, spills happen, things get wet and never dry out. songs are lost and can not be recovered. when it happens you can get angry and fume about it, you can spend time thinking about a random person you will never see again, or you can go out and buy a new toy.

if you are really lucky, you can go out and get two toys. my mom used to say, better to much than not enough.

the drunk guy certainly was working on that plan before the spill, why shouldn't i do the same afterwards.