I still feel like I owe a lot of apologies for this one
December, 1991. School trip to London from a little Welsh village. It was a two day thing, see some shows, stay in a hotel, go to the Houses of Parliament and do a bit of Christmas shopping. All good.

Until I found out that the hotel had vending machines on each floor that dispensed mini bottles of wine. Your first time getting proper drunk and emotional is not best experienced in front of your teachers, school colleagues (I won't call them friends as they weren't) and a bunch of random hotel staff.

I have few memories of the evening itself, but I was told that I was the cause of us nearly being thrown out of the hotel. I do remember a lot of people being very angry, some of them wearing dressing gowns, so I guess they were hotel guests. I vaguely remember sitting in the bath screaming, while the headmaster tried to talk some sense into me. I have a hazy idea that I was beating the vending machines in the hope that more wine would magically appear. I think I hit someone, and I know I was making a huge play for a guy in a bright blue shell suit. In fact, I think it was his lack of interest that made me empty every single vending machine and get royally blatted.

Walking round the Houses of Parliament the next day was hideous. I felt awful - a true thumpy thumpy gut churner of a hangover and quite a lot of shame at what I'd done. It's fifteen years ago and I still cringe whenever I think of it. Thank you, teachers, for not expelling me; sorry, people who had the misfortune to be in the same hotel.

Unsurprisingly, that was the last school trip I went on.
( ancrenne doesn't eat anything that can play video games, Thu 7 Dec 2006, 13:52, closed)