ACDC Europa squad: part I

As some of you know, I planned this weekend as a “bachelor trip” for Georgie and his upcoming wedding. And the idea kept getting bigger and bigger, and ended up as a whole bunch of ACDC players travelling to London for a Man United v. Fulham game this past Saturday. The weekend has finally ended, but with Peter passed out in George’s bed, Carlos asleep in my bed, Georgie annihilated in an empty bed, and Justin Mumbled Peabody comatose in Carlos’ bed, but not before regurgitating much of his stomach lining onto Carlos’ arm, Georgie’s jeans, and the bed itself. That leaves Matt safely asleep where he is supposed to be, and me talking to you.

Mumbles: Just-in time

The narrative has to start somewhere, so let’s just describe how we lost Mumbles. As you are well aware, the man is a mess, on a galactic scale: loses his keys, can't find the directions, late for tournament games. He showed up to the airport with a passport that was so mauled that it didn’t pass inspection. His immediate travel companion, Peter, had to abandon him to get a new passport at the State Department, and the whole group spent 24 hours wondering whether the junior penguin would ever show up before the big game on Saturday.

A mess he may be, but Mumbles is a smart and resourceful guy, and so he made all the right moves and showed up just before game time.  He's usually late for games, but for this London trip, he was at least 24 hours late, but right on time for the game.

Meanwhile, the group of Opus, Whitey, Georgie and Carlos had the time of their life flying on another airline. As we were going through our pre-flight ritual, I noticed a very English and particularly fussy attendant coming up the aisle. I thought I was a good boy, having my blanket neatly draped on me and my seat belt above the blanket so she could see it clearly. She looked at me and said, “Could you please pull the blanket over your shoulder?” I was rather confused at this point, and reached down to my knees and pulled the bottom part of the blanket to my shoulder level. This did not satisfy her, and she grabbed the whole set-up off of my body. Rather amused at this time, I raised my arms over my head in the international sign of “I surrender.” She then flipped the blanket around my back and over my shoulder, so I said innocently but perhaps a bit sarcastically, “Now, I have a cape!” At which point, the giggling coming from across the aisle in the direction of my companions reached a cacophonous level. George leaned over and said to the attendant, whispering, “He is a little slow.”

She replied, “Oh, thank you,” and proceeded to unbuckled my belt to re-do it, and instructed me to put everything, including my fluffy pillow, under the seat. “That too?” I said, all confused. No longer able to hold it together, Matt and Carlos erupted. The latter practically peed his pants. The attendant turned in that direction and said, “Please don’t be rude to the other passengers!”

Georgie, the most mature of the participants this whole weekend, apologized and said, “Oh, he’s with us. We are his friends.” And the attendant went along her way.

The rest of the weekend was filled with hilarity unequaled in AC D.C. history. Since I haven’t slept in 36 hours and still have to clean up Mumbles’ junior penguin gastric mess, I’ll leave the rest for later. Now, I have catch a flight....