The Snakehole Lounge is my happy place

In defense of hangovers

It’s the big kahuna this week. My favorite Parks episode of all time - “The Fight”!

If you haven’t seen “The Fight,” I recommend closing this app, heading to Peacock, and watching it right this minute. It’s a perfect half hour of comedy gold. I say that all the time here, but this is the time when I most mean it. There’s not a bad minute of “The Fight.”

Okay, when you’re back from watching that, let’s break it down. “The Fight” takes place in what is easily my favorite secondary location in Pawnee, the Snakehole Lounge. Even if you’re only mildly familiar with Parks, you may be familiar with this iconic, drunken montage:

@wazbeemBaba booey. Too much snake juice for the parks and rec department #parksandrec #parksandrecreation #leslieknope #tomhaverford #ronswanson #snakejuice

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Jim O’Heir gave us the hot goss that this sequence was 100% improvised. Amy, the writer and director on this episode, decided to let the whole cast just go nuts with their characters. Best thing she ever did.

Now, you may think that this montage is all you need to know about “The Fight.” You may be thinking that even if you’ve never seen Parks and Rec, watching this TikTok gives you the highlight reel. You may think there’s nooooothin’ else special going on. And reader, you would be sorely wrong!!

I love every single minute that the cast is wilin’ in the Snakehole Lounge, but I love their hangover sequence maybe even more. It’s so accurate. Leslie’s sleeping under her desk all mornin’, April has a pillow duct-taped around her head, Jerry’s moaning and groaning over at his desk, Ben threw up in the shower, Ann’s hair has seen far better days:

And since the Parks cast was considerate enough to show us themselves in all of their hungover glory, it’s confession time …. I secretly have a soft spot for hangovers.

I knoooooow I know I know I know. What an insane thing to say. But it’s true!!! I wrote about it a few years ago on my since-sunset personal Substack and hilariously thought my 24-year-old hangovers were the worst they’d ever get. Sheesh. There are all of these incredibly cringy memes that float around on TikTok like “I met my younger self for breakfast today” and it’s like “she wore a polo and boat shoes. I wore baggy jeans and a graphic tee ❤️.” Well, my older self is laughing right in my younger self’s face at the moment for thinking her hangovers were bad. Giiiiirl.

And yet — I still kinda love ‘em. Hangovers are the great equalizer amongst all of us. Every single human, from shoeshine Andy to future POTUS Leslie Knope, gets hangovers. They justify anything. Would a rational person DoorDash $75 worth of Taco Bell at 10am on a Sunday, followed 20 minutes later by one single Slurpee from 7-Eleven? No, reader, they would not. But would a hungover person? Hell yeah, I have that order set on a recurring timer.

There’s nothing in the world to me like being hungover with your friends after a night out. I live alone now, but in college and in my first few years in the city, hauling myself out of bed to the couch only to debrief the night’s events over a greasy breakfast sandwich was damn near my favorite part of any weekend. Now, I haul myself across town to Mikaela’s couch to rot when needed.

The shenanigans of the night before are, of course, fun — and of course there your friends see you in every state, from pampered and feeling flirty to screaming at them in line for a bar bathroom. You’ll go from having the perfect Halloween costume to tripping through the streets in one shoe. You’ll be Leslie Knope one minute and whoever the hell this is the next:

But truly nothing is closer to my realer, natural state as a human than hungover Bailey. Sometimes I’m hangry, sometimes I’m giggly, sometimes I’m cranky, sometimes I snap into clean up mode, sometimes I swear to god I have tumbleweeds for brains and couldn’t remember my middle name if my life depended on it. Sometimes I can’t have coffee for a few hours and things get really, really dire. I turn into a full-scale monster if I don’t have coffee within the first 20 minute of my eyes being open. (It’s why I could never go on Survivor).

There’s something about seeing your best friends waking up in their Halloween costume on the couch, their phone in the silverware drawer, leftovers spilled across the counter, that reallllly strips away any false pretenses you have about them. It is so, so humbling. We’re not perfect humans! We all get a little bowled over by a big night out! And if they’re good friends, it’s not like they’re going anywhere! They stick with you that whole Sunday, watching all 4 Hunger Games movies in the dark, hangover hat on head. Doesn’t matter if you’re hungry, cranky, or just plain mean. They’re probably feeling the exact same way.

It’s the same for our beloved little Parks department. The Snakejuice hangover (I shuddered typing this, I can quite literally feel their pain) brings them closer together. Ann, in a truly sight-for-sore-eyes state, has slept in snow pants because she thought about sledding the night before. This is her yard:

Ben tracks her down and delivers a sweet speech about how much Leslie cares for her, despite throwing up in the shower a few hours before. In reward, he gets a little hint that Leslie likes him more than she’s able to admit. Andy and April maintain a spirit of role-playing fun in their relationship, running off as Janet Snakehole and Burt Macklin and strengthening their relationship — after Andy yaks on Kyle’s shoes. Ron actually sticks up for Tom, upset that he’s being pulled back into the “government teat” after being asked to give up his shares in the Snakehole lounge (Tom noooo!). Good things happen, even though they’re all feeling REAL bad.

Everyone’s groaning and grumbling together all morning, collectively unwell. Except for Ron, who skips in, whistling and carrying burgers. And they hate their lives, but they’re in it together. As a team! As a family - whose blood is 93% Snakejuice.

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And also if you haven’t listened to Kathryn Hahn on “Good Hang” (Amy Poehler’s pod)….go do that right after you watch “The Fight.”