Finding a smile

Sometimes you discover something that takes you back in time and instantly puts a smile on your face. These are moments I love, and it happened to me tonight while browsing through one of my Yahoo photo albums that I had practically forgotten about over the last several years.

This picture was taken in 1998 or 1999 while on a student media trip in Atlanta with Georgia Southern University. Here we have Justin, me, DK and Kelley after hopping into a "limo" to drive around the city while enjoying a cold one.

There's a (not-so) funny story behind this limo ride. You see, when we first stepped foot into the limo, the driver - taking note that he had on his hands about 10 college students who had the "party hard" look in their eyes - let us know that if there were to be any puking inside his vehicle, the ride would be over and we would be charged a hefty "cleaning fee."

Sounded fair enough.

So, along the way we stopped at a grocery store for beer and, knowing what kind of night our driver was in for, we picked up a "thank you" card on the way out. (We're considerate that way in South Georgia.)

After hitting the road and enjoying some site-seeing, we decided to play your standard drinking games. Halfway through my first beer that I'd literally been sipping, it hit me.

You know that pre-puke feeling you get where you start to salivate like a rabid animal - and you just know things are about to get 100 times worse? Well, that's the feeling I got.

See, we'd been in Atlanta for several days at that point - and for several days I'd been stuck in our hotel room with a nasty stomach flu. I foolishly thought a night out on the town would be a much needed break from sleeping and puking after being able to hold down food for, say, 3 or 4 hours before.

(Remember, college students are not known for their wise decisions.)

So, knowing that the ride would be over and the cleaning fee was not something my friends would want to pay in lieu of a wild night out, I scurried to the front of the limo, appologized repeatedly to the driver and told him it was an absolute must that he take me back to the hotel - and make it FAST!

Luckily, I've always been able to hold "it," and I arrived at the hotel intact. The driver stopped just long enough for me to run out, and my friends were gone - having a ball without me as I hugged the toilet all night. I was the only sober one of the bunch, and I was the one who was getting sick. How's that for Murphey's Law?!?

I was not a happy girl that night, but I can look back and laugh now. Funny how things work out that way.