At The Bottom Of The Bottle
There was a time in my life, when any festivity without alcohol felt like a tea-party at the retirement home, and any weekend spent being sober, was as intriguing as being an altar boy. It was never a few drinks only, because to me that would’ve been like watching just the beginning of a movie and getting excited for nothing. So, essentially, I was getting wasted every time.
The question is: how on earth did this become a regular thing?
I don’t remember wanting to get sh#t-faced in my middle teens, all I cared about was my Paladin in Diablo II, but then in my late teens I already had a firmly established reputation of a drunk. What happened? Did someone abduct me, turn me into an alcoholic, and wipe my memory clean before setting free? No? Then how do you explain the transition from a Coca-Cola kid to a booze abuser? How does anyone get from childlike innocence, to the bottom of a vodka bottle so quickly?
Turns out, alcohol is one of the most clever traps you can fall into (what a shocker!), and once you do, you won’t be necessarily aware of it. It’s similar to when you get drunk but keep believing you are sober as a judge, you then take your “sobriety” to social media and make a cringeworthy announcement, something like – “starting tomorrow, I will live every day like it’s my last. My true friends, forget who I was, say goodbye to old me”, followed by a random video of you shaving off your eyebrows and a bunch of people yelling “go, go, go!”. The next day you learn a painful lesson, – “wholly mother of God, what have I done!”, and you’re so embarrassed, that you avoid reading all the comments and messages. Sounds familiar?
It’s like only when things get fubar, we begin to realize that there might be something fishy going on. Surely, you might say – “what the hell are you talking about? It has nothing to do with fish! I get the booze, get hammered, have a hangover, done deal! Sheesh!”.
Well, there’s a bit more to it. Apart from the obvious consequences, alcohol is the golden formula for keeping people in the cycle of consumerism. It’s that perfect product for every occasion, whether you are celebrating or mourning, being a social drinker or an everyday alcoholic, conceiving a baby unconsciously or committing suicide, it is always there for you in all bottle shapes and sizes, in all flavors and colors, and you don’t need a drug dealer to get it. How crack-a-lackin’ is that?
– ‘’Hold on a minute, it sounds too good to be true, what’s the catch?’’.
Don’t you worry about anything, because your every doubt has already been cleared: hangover problems? Just get drunk again! Already drunk? You’re not drunk enough! But what about the next day? Repeat that sh#t again! Health issues? Simply spice your favorite booze up with other drugs! Wanna quit? Too late, you’rе addicted!
It’s all about keeping you in a loop, or on a leash, the same way pimps keep their crack-whores in line.
But how do you end up in this mess? Do you voluntarily buy a ticket to go down the sh#tcreek? Do you just wake up one morning and think – “I’m gonna drink to the point where my own mother will not recognize me”? Of course not, it’s the culture that moulds us into what we become. For example, I might be genetically predisposed to alcoholism, but if I was never introduced to alcohol, I would have no idea what that is, let alone crave it. This is not to say that we are all identical when it comes to culture influence, some people embrace it, while others resist it. My point is this: if your ancestors are Japanese, your entire family tree is 100% Japanese, you were born in Japan, but, you grew up in South Carolina, it’s more than likely that you’ll be lovin’ fried chicken & beer, and not sushi with wasabi, alrighty y’all?
I got addicted to drinking rapidly, and at the same time I was being offered all kinds of other drugs, but that’s where I started resisting the culture, – “alcoholic is better than alcoholic & a cocaine/heroine addict”, I thought to myself. Eventually, it became evident that one addiction is more than enough to ruin my life.
Wherever you go these days you get offered some kind of drug, if not directly then indirectly, e.g. through product placement. It’s amusing to me how some Hollywood movies portray the modern day badass cowboy, who always has a glass of hard liquor in the middle of a day, and then goes to perform super dexterity feats.
– “Damn! What was in that whiskey Mr. Bond? I wanna be able to fight and shoot like that too! Off to the liquor store I skip!”.
I am tired of all the “how to quit drinking” manuals, there are only 2 lives that you can live, and that’s – “everything’s f#cked up, but I’m drinking, although still feeling like sh#t” VS “everything’s great, but I’m craving a drink, although still feeling good”. Choose one.
