Just that. I was watching a program on Food Network and there was a segment on wine/champagne testers. Obviously, they swished it around a bit and then spit it into a cup. Just got me wondering whether or not it would be possible for a recovering alcoholic to do this job. I mean, if he were going to drink, he would drink. Just go to the store/bar or whatever. If he’s recovered (recovering?) could he handle this job? Sorry if this is a dumb question. But I do come here to have my ignorance fought.
Not for long.
Interesting. It seems to be a truism nowadays that, “There is no cure for alcoholism!!!111one1!” and that alcoholics are forever and ever “in recovery” and that even a single drink will destroy that recovery. It’s so vigorously stated that it seems like it’s taken on a religious or political meaning separated from legitimate medicine. Is this still the medical consensus? Does the “one drink away” principle apply to small tastes, or does it really refer to lapsing by drinking an entire glass or shot?
I don’t know about the world of wine tasters. Is there a certification or something where wannabe wine tasters have to be evaluated for alcoholism and if you are deemed an alcoholic, no certificate/license for you?
It is certainly current medical consensus that individuals who have the medical diagnosis of alcoholism are at very, very high risk for a return to uncontrolled drinking if they consume any significant amounts of alcohol at all. And the medical literature contains many case studies of alcoholics who were sober for decades, but returned to uncontrolled drinking after inadvertently consumed drinks unknowingly containing small amount of alcohol.
Does medical science say no alcoholic can return to controlled drinking of small amounts? No. But it does say that it’s very, very hard to predict which individuals can do so, and it appears that the number of individuals who can do so with long-term success are a relatively small percentage of the total number of alcoholics.
Consensus is also that there presently is no cure for your typical case of alcoholism. Sadly there is no cure for excessive use of punctuation, either. Certainly, more research is needed for both disorders.
[Henry Gibson] Please give generously.[/Henry Gibson]
Replacing alcoholism with eating disorder and drinking with food reveals how hopeless/helpless an eating disordered person must feel every day in having to deal with that specific problem each and every day. Yes, I just hijacked my own thread, but it seems relevant.
Not a wholly informed answer, but the recovering alcoholics I know are so vigilant that they won’t eat liquor-filled chocolates, and they stay away from mouthwash and cold medications that contain alcohol. Thus wisely avoiding the “inadvertent” consumption of alcohol that QtM mentioned.
I’d think that for most, a job that entails being around a lot of alcohol plus swilling it around in one’s mouth would not be a job that would end well.
I did know a bartender who was a recovered alcoholic with a long period of sobriety under his belt…he said having the job allowed him to continue to enjoy the ambience of the bar without being able to succumb to the risks. I just googled and found this relevant-to-your-question article about people who work around, and sometimes have to taste, alcohol.