I’ve turned it into a story - all advice, any, all, the slightest, the most inciteful - are welcome. All inputs/any are appreciated.
[the background]
Frank is always in a modest mood. He’s a normal person with a lifting bent, willing to forgo the normal objects of leisure in favor of sacrifice and being well rested.
Frank is a senior in college and has but one semester remaining.
After working over 130 completed credit hours sand 3 switched degree programs, Frank is almost home free, with only three classes to fufill his goals.
Frank has a bodybuilding contest, and since Frank is absolutely devoted to winning, and being a champion, he splits his energies between doing the devoted training and studying, barely getting bye to do his schooling. During Franks intense preparation and classes, he withdraws from friends and social activities, and does away with his Driver’s license to make sure he doesn’t imbibe any alcohol during this period. Frank is also an inspiring writer who loves words, and during his preparation he ‘ll let himself get away with one visit for a spend the night every 2 weeks to his parents house, in which he’ll talk with them and have a drink and he’ll let his creative writing juices flow.
After 10 weeks of hard training and intense preparation, Franks contest comes, and he doesn’t do as well as he would’ve liked… Nevertheless, since this is Frank’s last semester in school, he decides thi sisn’t so bad, as now his available time for school and classes is more widespread.
Frank still does not get a drivers license, for fear that alcohol will mess with his goals still, so he keeps up the visitations to his parents house on occasion, only to escape and relax, to maintain a levcel head – enduring nothing but cold hard study during the week.
[the event]
On the week of October 20th, Frank spends all of his time preparing for two exams, Frank needs to do well on these to make sure he passes these classes, and he endures much non sleep and hard work to get thru it. The Wednesday exam goes ok, and it’s now Thursday, the day of the other exam. Frank wakes up extra early, and studies for a long time, and instead of missing his other class in favor of a nap and studying for the test, he goes to the class and studies immediately after. Frank finally takes the test and is relieved. Frank is dead tired, and decides, given that he has some left over adrenaline from the test, to go run and exercise some of it out.
Frank calls his father after he’s done running and schedules a ‘meet up’ for lunch with him tomorrow, to discuss how things are going generally, and to have a chance to bond. Also while driving home, Frank schedules a workout with his friend in the morning. While driving home, Frank notices a grocery store near his house, and goes into buy a pack a gum – as a way to celebrate, Frank finally decides to have two ccans of a wine beer alcohol. Frank then goes home to shower, lay out his clothes, print off class notes, make his dinner and breakfast for the following morning and rest, after doing so he remembers he bought the two drinks, and goes to drink them.
[the shatterer of worlds]
Frank is in jail for the next 6 days.
Frank had, after drinking the beer and talking to friends, decided he wanted to drink more and stay in at home, so went to buy food and more beer. Frank had drunk some of the beer, and gotton hungry again, so had gone to an ATM to withdraw more money. Frank received an insufficient funds sign, and, called his father, whom had been lending him money for groceries and, having earlier in the day saying he’d transferred it, must’ve forgotton. Franks father answers, and Frank tells him it’s ok, it’s no big deal, he misses his family and he wishes to see them.
Frank makes it to his house, but notices a man is following him. Frank thought the car was questionable and of a perverse nature, so instead of going into his lane he goes into another, still the man follows. Frank believe’s he’s crafty so he pulls into the house of one to which he does not belong and puts on his emergency lights, forcing the car behind him to either drive on or admit he was stalking him. The car behind him puts on his police lights, and Frnak is arrested for drunken Driving.
Frank now is in much trouble, because eit turns out he did not do as well he would’ve liked on the exams, and also, Frank had 10 months prior, done another bodybuilding contest obstaining from all alcohol, but after being lonely and sorry for ‘cutting off his friends’ – he decides to see his friend after a month of non communication, and attends his birthday party, to which Frank had driven home above the legal limit as well. Frank was on probation from that incident, and 1.5 months away from its completition.
[the fear]
Franks world seems over – he is now afraid, because he knows he can go long stretches of itme without alcohol, but does not know what neural correlates within him override the conscious brake that suggests driving endangers the lives of everyone (a loss of will and a horrible aspect of Frank’s character), and he currently, in order to stay out on bail, must wear a bracelet which he must check in every once in 24 hours once to make sure no alcohol is in his system. Frank’s court date is also a month from now, in which he’ll find out, after attending alcoholics anonymous meetings and wearing the bracelet, to what extent of the 4 week jail sentence he will have to serve. Frank also has lost his driver’s license for a year, and must wear the bracelet on his leg like a ball and chain, walking now to his campus buildings some 1.5-2 miles off, and he must also find a job.
Frank’s number one fear is not the bracelet, the meetings, nor the jail time (though it is incredibly degrading to his character) – he is concerned about the cause of the incident. Frank chose to drink the night he did, his conscious brain did not choose to drive, after much alcohol imbibing, he normal mechanisms that the average person is able to use are skewed, and his risk taking behavior in regards driving, leaves this ‘concous ability’ brain power in question.
[an odd kink]
Frank is also a neuroscience major, specializig in the realm of addiction, and knows the ins and outs and neural correltes, the whys and wherefores as to how much drugs of abuse work. He also is a philosopher, whom, only recently going against it, reglarly lectured his friends on how drinking is wrong, and is simply a social lubricant. Frank likes reading about the history of prohibition for leisure, while copying and pasting William Penn’s fruits of solitude, and mastering his section on Drink and pleasure. Still with all this, Frank knows he can be 45 years old with his family, a model citizen and a man of influence, with everything in his life being exemplary, but one fowl swoop after never drinking alcohol he has 1 at a forth of july party, and after drinking some, rather than cooling off he drives again. His life is over, and he is a criminal. Frank also noticed on NPR was a book review on a new release ‘One for the Road’ detailing the history of drunk driving, and that states like Sweden and Russia have .02 alcohol ratings (essentially you can’t drink).
Frank must decide how he is to handle this situation and get his life back together, besides the legal matters nad future trials, his loans are due, and he must get a job, ,also his time away (and future legal matters) forces him to withdraw from 2 of the 3 classes, and he must still go back and complete these to graduate. Frank’s concern is the big picture more so, because he fears how to prevent the possibility of this ever occurring again. Furhter complicating matters is all of his relationships with family friends and anyone is now completely strained. He is strong, and realizes al problems are oppurtunities; his will is that of steel, his ambition is high, and he can overcome all obstacles - yet he is still mortal, and like Alexander, realizes his vulnerability most during sleep. It is not a stretch during those times, when the tides of stress are high, that I am of like state to an opium eater.
“Think not, reader… therefore my sufferings were ended …Think of me as of one, when four months had passed, still agitated, writhing, throbbing, palpitating, shattered.” 3”