

Myself and two friends went to Seattle to race (sailboats) and one had booked us a hotel on Aurora, I don’t remember the name unfortunately. When we got there they were both kinda iffy on the place but I didn’t notice anything too weird. It was your average cheap ish hotel. I had also had a few drinks by this point so that might have had something to do with it. Anyhoo, we went out drinking and had a lovely night, came back and passed out. In the morning I went to use the bathroom and as I’m sitting there everything started to come into focus, and yeah, it was pretty gross. I wandered back out and laid on the bed. As I reached my arms behind the pillow to stretch, my hand hit something, I grabbed it and pulled out a meth pipe. Nice. We packed up and headed to the front desk. They really didn’t want to refund us the money for the next two nights but when I put the meth pipe on the counter they suddenly decided they’d be able to do that for us. Ended up sleeping on the floor at a friend’s house and had a grand time.
I read that book when I was younger and couldn’t remember the name until a few years ago. It resonated with me in a profound way. Having to be resourceful and not just make do, but survive, with what you have around you is something I’ve ingrained into my life. And not just in emergency situations but all the time. Seeing other uses for things, coming up with novel solutions, and yes, not giving up. My boss really appreciates my outlook at work for this reason.
I really liked the movie cast away for the same reasons.