Travelling

Pretty much a wreck now. Up at 5am to get a taxi to the airport to check in at 6 to fly at 8 to arrive 12 hours later at 1pm. But I survived torture by time zone and now I'm back in the familial manse. On the way over I watched The Invention of Lying (which felt strangely inconsistent - why does everyone have to volunteer information about themselves? Tact is not identical to lying, after all), Zombieland - not enough zombies, not enough sympathetic characters, The Damned United, which I preferred to the book, although it made me dislike Clough more, and then I read a book that was a grinding series of depressing episodes - I thoroughly recommend One Day. I think it would dovetail nicely with The Inevitable Inheritance of Wilberforce.

In the row of seats in front of us there was a man who seemed to have a serious problem walking. After a while it appeared that the serious problem was the half of the bottle of Jim Beam he'd already drunk a few hours into the flight - incapable of speech and barely able to stand.

I overheard one of the flight attendents tell him that being drunk on a plane was illegal, and that he'd already been refused boarding two days earlier because he had been drunk. When the plane landed we all had to remain seated for the police to collect him, although this never occurred: in the end we all got off before him.

He seemed to have sobered up - I saw him pushing a trolley in the baggage hall a little later, with no police in evidence. I suppose perhaps because he wasn't drunk any more, there was no more crime being committed. I'll consider that more carefully after I've had some sleep.