(This is a short excerpt from my forthcoming novel, That’s Me in the Corner, spoken in the voice of the book’s protagonist, Brody Graham.)
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Christopher was a full-on cokehead junkie, but he got clean and became this puritan who’s always irritating the hell out of everyone, saying things like, “I’m not going to tell you you can’t drink a beer, I’m just saying I don’t need that crutch anymore. I’ve risen above it.”
If someone like him took that posture with me I’d want to say, “Listen, just because up until two weeks ago you were shooting H into your toenail doesn’t mean everyone else needs to go to those extremes, as if having a beer is our way of silencing some demon who’s telling us to go on a statewide killing spree or whatever.”
Bloody hell, just keep that AA stuff to yourself. Sometimes a beer is just that: a beer and not some pathetic coping device, is what I’m saying.
I’ll see your point and raise an eyebrow (is that a mixed metaphor, I never know). Sometimes it is a coping device, but so what? Just because Christopher has no toggle between addict and ascetic doesn’t mean others of us can’t admit that sometimes it’s more than recreational enjoyment and then sometimes we need a substance to take the edge off. I know I do. At the very least, not being able to admit that is to not be able to sing along to “Red, Red Wine.” The slow and sad Neil Diamond version, not that upbeat UB40 crap that divorces form and content.
Cockypop, Zrim. I just read the liquor for the articles.
LMAO, Zrim and Jason.
Weird timing of all of this. Recovering from a heavy party weekend and wondering why I keep doing this to myself? Wondering if the alcohol is holding me back or helping me fly?
A whiskey a day WILL keep the doctor away, I learned this living in Ireland. That shit is fo real. Sure, I’ll have one to take the edge off and to be social as well. But that shit is medicinal. Fuck AA.
I don’t really believe in alcoholism anymore anyway. It just feels like it’s matter of if we WANT to face our pain or if we DON’T WANT to face that shit sometimes…and sometimes a nigga just wants to stop thinking so damn much.
Dang, Zrim…I kinda like the UB40 rendition…ha ha.
I saw a shirt once that said, “I’m Like a Choco-holic, But With Booze.”
It is interesting to consider to what degree we can just tack an “ism” on the end of something and make it sound better than just a lack of self-control. But on the other hand, I don’t want to minimize people’s struggles simply because I have self-control coming out the ying yang.
True. But as one who also has a ridiculous amount of self-control, consider your skepticism a way of protecting those who have real problems from getting black eyes from weenies. I think in particular of so-called “sex addicts.” I think probably 2-3% of those who claim that affliction really are, and likely have other pathologies that are manifestations of general dysfunction. The other 98-97% are people who can’t throw the off switch, want an excuse for it, and make the real sufferers lose credibility.
“Black eyes from weenies”? I think the sex-addict websites you visit are different from mine. . . .