Have Bottle Will Travel

I was at a conference recently for designers from around the Southeastern United States. We were all brought together with one goal in mind: Design and how to improve the process, communication, and all that fun stuff. One side effect, however, of packing a few hundred designers into one resort, in a state that many of them do not reside in, is partying…lots of partying. For many of us it is a chance to see old friends, and forge new relationships. As the sun set on one of these conferences, a small caucus of my fellow “creatives” and I wandered the halls of the resort making appearances at parties and social gatherings. Through our travels we had passed Steve, another convention attendee, several times. Each time Steve had the same look of desperation in his eyes as he meandered the corridors holding, what we hoped, was the same unopened bottle of wine – a cheap white wine of unknown origin. After a while, our collection of merry misfits finally settled down at a party in an anonymous hotel room. Concluding our discussions on sustainable design, new manufacturing processes, and all the jargon filled banter we could surmise it was time for me, and some of the other revelers to make our leave. This room was laid out like many a hotel room with the bathroom door just inside the room entrance. As I approached the door I noticed Steve in the bathroom, with the same unopened bottle of wine, searching through our host’s toiletries with the assistance of his newfound friends – none of which were occupants of the room. This peaked my interest. What could Steve, and his equally inebriated cohorts, produce from a stranger’s possessions that would serve to uncork this now warm, cheap, white wine? To the awe of many who had converged on the vestibule of the bathroom, Steve and company produced a toothbrush of questionable sanitary nature. After stripping the bottle of its foil, one person grabbed the base of said bottle while Steve forced the cork downward into the jug with the handle of the toothbrush. Necessity is the mother of all invention! After hours of deliberation, by a more than slightly intoxicated person, the most random of objects was used to free the liquid he desired. I guess that even a cheap, room temperature, white wine has the power to bring happiness…And no, I did not partake in this most unusual of bacchanals.