I'm in the grips of a blinding hangover while on a plane writing this. I was told as you get closer to your 30s the hangovers get worse. They didn't lie. It's not like I'm getting drunk often (maybe that's the problem); I had a good excuse. Another stag do, this time I was the best man/organiser-rude not to really.
The flight is from Wellington back to the Bay. Why is it that babies only cry on flights when you're hungover/attempting sleep/trying to get work done? Yup, that's happening. Small plane, baby two rows back. I feel sorry for the mum (and the bub, to be fair) struggling to shush the wee thing and not wanting to disturb people. But the pounding in my brain and the faint whiff of the booze pouring out of my pores cares not for her struggle. Now there's turbulence. The fries and Coke I had for breakfast hate turbulence! Don't judge me, fries are an acceptable breakfast food in this condition.
But there are two shining lights . . . The first is literally the shining light that's coming through my window (natural light, get it off me). How beautiful is the Western Bay in the mid-arvo sun, from the air? Also, how big are the houses in semi-rural areas of Tauranga? If you were ever questioning the wealth of some individuals in the Bay, have a gander at it from the air! Their garages are twice the size of my house. Good on them (through gritted teeth).
The second shining light is the 12-year-old girl sitting next to me. I notice, between my dribbling naps and semi-silent groans of regret, that she's drawing a bit of an abstract page. It's got a sun, the skyline of a city, a cake and an Asian girl's face, they're all joined together. Her drawing topics are as erratic as the waves of pain going through my gut! Apart from it being awesome to see a kid that age entertaining herself without a smartphone or an iPad (as much as that statement ages me, again), the quality is actually really high.
She's also written two random sentences all tied up in between the drawings: "the cake is a lie" and "not one, but a million have had enough". The first one is a statement from a game about being promised cake as a reward and then not getting it after you win. The second is a lyric from an Offspring song called Secrets from the Underground. It's about rebelling against a political system you're not happy with. Even in my post-booze haze I could tell that was kind of deep fora12-year-old. It made me smile (the only smile of the plane ride). If we have 12-year-olds here who are that good at art and have a brain that's thinking about the world and expressing their feelings creatively, we are in good hands!
Who knew you could get so much from a short plane ride with a hangover? Pilot landed softly too, thank God. Would hate to have ruined that girl's picture with my fries from breakfast. Sorry, gross!
