Ever been informed of something you did which is totally brand new news to you?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

I’m gonna have to disagree on that point there (not that I argue that the majority of people who have recurring blackouts aren’t alcoholics). My first time drinking I blacked out.

The memory goes something like this.

I’d had a lot to drink, but seeing as it was my first time drinking it didn’t seem like a lot. I recall that we watched a really bad anime porn and MST3k’d it, and then I recall looking down at a Jack Daniels shooter, looking up at Dalene, who had a box of some sort in her hand and a smile on her face.

When I woke up I had blonde hair. :slight_smile:

~Tasha

22

Its been a few years but I’ve had a couple. When I was in Paris with some friends we went out drinking. We started early and kept going. At some point, my memory is hazy. I was told by a friend that I started speaking French pretty well and that my accent was pretty good. We got split up and I somehow wandered back to the hotel. I woke up the next morning to find that I had sprained my ankle.

Another time, I went out drinking with friends for a bachelor party. After we closed out the bars we headed back to my apartment and crashed. When we developed the rolls of film, we discovered that we had taken four group pictures in which we had all posed normally and someone had snapped the pictures. The funny part was that nobody remembered any of it. Either posing for the pictures or taking them.

23

Ah, my wife loves telling this tale. But first, a bit of backstory:

As was mentioned in another current thread, my wife is 10 years young than I am. The first time we met, she was “my friend John’s annoying eight-year-old sister”, and apparently I was “her stupid brother’s cute friend with the Bon Jovi hair”. I didn’t see her again until she was 18, and we started dating.

She, however, saw me, about five years later.

She saw me one morning, on her lawn, where apparently I decided to sleep off the night before. John and I had went to a party, got mind-boggling shitfaced, and when we were dropped off at John’s place, I apparently never made it past his lawn. It seems I just decided that was as good a place as any to curl up and go to sleep.

I, of course, remember none of this.

I’ve always wondered if she came out of her house that morning, saw this guy sleeping on her lawn, and thought to herself “Yeah, him. That’s the man I’m going to marry someday”. :slight_smile:

24

For years, every damned day. I am a blackout drinker and drug user, so it happened to me all the time.

Funny, perhaps, but no fun.

25

I need some sort of structure to my days [like school or work] because if I dont keep to a schedule I will adopt sort of a 26 or 27 hour day and precess my sleep and awake times around the clock, and i will start playing something [in particular about 10 years ago it was all 3 eye of the beholder PC games] and literally fugue out. I started playing on a monday morning with eye#1 and was just finishing up with the tail end of eye#3 when my husband got home from sea [a short deployment] i can honestly say I do not remember eating, sleeping, bathing or using the bathroom, nor do I really remember playing because I had already played the series so many times before I was a walking help line for clues… I know I ate, and bathed because there were about 3 days of dishes in the sink and enough laundry for 3 days of clothing.

Oddly enough, if I have a need for a schedule, I can actually wake myself up within 10 minutes of the alarm time. So, I tend to follow a 5 am - 930 PM schedule 7/365.

26

I can’t remember the last time I was drunk…

But according to the local news, the legal bills, and the police reports, plus the burnt Fiat in the alley, it must have been recently…
Just kidding
FML

27

I simply don’t understand. If you wake up in the morning and have no idea what you did the night before, why would you ever want to do it again? What mindset causes people to repeat such frightening behavior?

28

I think I’ve told this story on these Boards before…

The closest I’ve come to truly blacking out was on Klonopin. This was a little less than three years ago, in my wild experimentation phase. I only took the stuff once; I snorted a pill or two (don’t remember how much was in each pill, though I knew at the time) and ate another one. So did a friend of mine. He and I split up, each wandering off with someone who hadn’t taken any, looking for more trouble. I had just bought 1/16 oz of coke and had only done two lines from it–one for myself and one for the girl who hooked me up with it as a courtesy finder’s fee. The idea was to save the rest of it for Finals Week, so I could maximize my alertness in the late hours and cram.

Just before the Klonopin really kicked in, my still-sober buddy and I found some people who agreed to get us stoned in exchange for a safe place to light up. My parents were out of town so we headed over to their house and put on some Family Guy to watch while we blazed. You know the episode where Brian gets hooked on coke? That one. Well, when the Klonopin kicked in I was basically watching myself from the third person, as if I had no control over my actions and the Klonopin had taken over. I (or the Klonopin, depending on how you look at it) had the bright idea to set up a “snorting game” where each of the 8 people there, myself included, had to do a line every time Brian got high or someone mentioned drugs in the episode. Needless to say I was pretty popular that night, but when I woke up the next morning and it took me an hour to piece together where I was and why there was an empty coke bag next to my bed, I decided never to take Klonopin again.

Remember my other friend who took the Klonopin with me? He woke up the next morning to find that he had an entire new wardrobe. After questioning the other friend he split off with, he found out that he had climbed a high fence, broken into a clothes warehouse of some kind, and stolen several outfits–and then proceeded to climb back over the fence, jump down and walk all the way from downtown back to campus with entire outfits slung over his shoulder the whole way like it ain’t no thing. I don’t think he ever did that stuff again, either.

29

I don’t blackout much either. Usually when I wake up after a particularly boisterous evening of drinking I’ll remember things slowly and think, “Oh no I can’t believe I said/did that.”

That said, I did black out one time. I had gone to a local bar to see my friend’s band play. I arrived early, and the bar had drink specials- tallboys (16oz) of PBR for $2. (I know 16oz. is a pint, but these are cans off beer not served in a glass) And I had money to burn and nothing to do but drink and talk to my friends, which I did. At warp speed.

I recall after my 8th drink I asked those present, “Why the hell am I not drunk yet?” Well, silly, because you’ve drunk your beers too fast, and all the alcohol hasn’t entered your bloodstream yet.

So in a few minutes, I was hammered. Normally when I drink I can tell when I’m getting tipsy, and slow down accordingly. I don’t like puking, or doing silly things, or getting the spins when I lay down. When I drink too quickly, however, I don’t have the presence of mind to do this.

So I kept drinking at an ungodly pace. My friend’s band played, and played well I hear. And then they started playing requests, and several of my friends and I got on stage and sang with them. I remember the songs they played. I knew most of them.

However, I do recall one of the songs they played, and I don’t know a single word of it. But did that stop me from singing along at the top of my lungs? Not at all.

At some point my friend Marc and I decided to leave. I recall leaving the bar- I have a very vivid memory of the hexagonal bricks on the sidewalk as we walked home. I also remember we had our arms around each other, because neither one of us was capable of walking by ourselves, although through our powers combined, apparently, we were able to make it home. Thank goodness it was only 3 blocks.

And that’s the last thing I remember.

The next morning I woke up, and Marc was next to me. Not entirely unusual, he spent the night a lot (he worked nearby, and it was easier for him to stay over and run to work at 8AM instead of waking up half an hour earlier to get there on time) And sometimes he got sick of sleeping on my loveseat, which is really small and uncomfortable. So waking up next to him was, in and of itself, not an unusual occurance.

He woke up about the same time, and we looked at each other, all sleepy-eyed and hungover and looking like death warmed over. But something was different. I felt a bit… free-er than usual. I peeked under the sheets, dreading what I would see. My suspicions confirmed, all I could say was, “Marc, we’re naked.”

However, neither of us has any recollections of actually doing anything. In the state we were in, I can’t imagine either one of us capable of, uh, consumating the relationship. I can only hope that we both got naked, were hindered in our pursuits by the dreaded Whiskey Dick, and passed out.

That’s what I tell myself, anyway.

30

Who ever thought the Melty Man could actually be your friend?

31

This happens to me a fair bit. I don’t drink or do drugs, but I have some kind of weird memory problem. (I did have a brain scan once, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary apparently.)

With my memory, it works like this:
Stuff is in there.
Then stuff isn’t. Sometimes I’m aware there’s a noticeable gap, and sometimes I’m completely oblivious to the fact that information was once there.
Then, sometimes, it comes back just as erratically.

This made it very difficult for me to do dance classes, back in the day. Some weeks I’d come in with no recollection of ever having seen a particular dance sequence before (let alone studying an hour of it) and other times I’d suddenly ‘click’ during the lesson and remember how it worked in the past.

Surprisingly, I manage to keep down a part-time job. I fret about work, so it tends to stay more or less fixed in my mind. Though I do have a reputation for being a bit of a scatterbrain sometimes.

32

I am an alcoholic. Once I begin drinking, I have no idea where I’ll end up, or how. And without significant intervention, I will do it forever, as often as I can or need to.

It’s hard to explain- it’s a compulsion that is killing me, I know it, and not only can I not stop even if I want to, I don’t actually want to!

I am sober now, BTW, but for years I didn’t care to be sober at all. If I woke up that way, it was quickly remedied.

Alcoholism can be absolutely baffling to those who don’t suffer from it. Even family and close friends of the alcoholic can’t understand what the hell is wrong with us.

There is a story about a jaywalker, who jaywalks for years with no ill effects. Then one time, he is grazed by a passing car. He is shaken by the close call, but it’s nothing major, and he continues to jaywalk. Some time later, he is struck again and his leg is broken. Once he heals, he begins to jaywalk again, reasoning that he has only been struck once in all his years of jaywalking, so it must have been a pure accident, not caused by his jaywalking at all. Later that year, he is struck again and lands in the hospital with a concussion. His reasoning remains the same, and once well, he continues to jaywalk, unable to make the connection between the actions he takes and the results. Later accidents cause more broken bones, then a broken back, then his death.

Getting the picture? Alcoholics are like that guy.

33

I have just recently had this very experience. Hearing of something I have no recollection of doing.

And it was not from blacking out while drinking or doing drugs.

My husband returned from his job (brewer at a local pub) and, on inquiry, said he and the bar flies had been speaking of me. :eek:

I’m less than pleased to hear this, convinced it will concern some less than stellar activity from my misspent youth. I ask for details, so I can do damage control or at least make believable denials. :stuck_out_tongue:

A regular at the bar told the story of how shortly after losing his wife, and left with 3 boys to raise, he had decided out of desperation to take bar food home to them for dinner. I came upon him trying to decide what to order up from the kitchen and told him I’d put something together for him and his boys. I was a manager at the bar at the time, but don’t recall this at all.

He said I put together a healthy meal (entirely outside what was on the menu) and when he tried to pay for it, I insisted it was on the house. (No biggie for the bar, guy was a regular for years!)

I guess that day he was just at his wits end and was ready to return home with chicken fingers and fries, late and unhappy about the choice. Instead he told of how much better it felt to open the take out containers and realize that someone else had taken it upon themselves to put together a healthy meal for his boys out of the pickings of a tavern kitchen. That it was on the house seemed secondary in the telling.

I clearly remember the time, his wife died suddenly and unexpectedly while young and in apparent good health. I remember the community responding to his loss, all of us caring for him as we do. But this specific incident I don’t really recall, the putting together the meal part a little, the rest not at all.

Isn’t it funny that something you don’t even think about could make such an impact on someone. These events must have occurred close to 15 yrs ago now, but he still remembers it clearly and fondly. But for him mentioning it to my hubby, it would have slipped out of my consciousness entirely.

Very “The Five People You Meet In Heaven”, don’t you think?

Sorry if I’ve changed the ambiance of this thread for you all, what with the no drinking, drugging, or blacking out part.

34

Aperently I started a Bungee jumping company a few years ago.
I really must do one one day to see what they re like.

35

Before he got sober, my husband had one of the best blackouts I’ve ever heard of. He’d been sober about a year and a half when one day he found a used plane ticket stub from Taiwan in his name. As far as he knew, he’d never been to Taiwan in his life. Upon checking his passport, however, he discovered to his amazement that he’d not only gone to Taiwan, but spent an entire week there apparently vacationing. To this day he has no memory whatsoever of the entire trip, start to finish.

He does, however, remember passing the field sobriety test with a blood alcohol of .28 (they were suspicious after he passed and did the blood test), as well as remembering all too well rear-ending the cop car. Drunk. (That’s what ultimately got him sober, fortunately.)

I also once heard a (fortunately then sober) airline pilot discuss having flown coast to coast many times in blackouts.

And my husband also knows a guy who went to sleep in the beach in Hawaii – and woke up on a beach in Guam. :smiley:

36

One day at a time, baby, one day at a time …

I don’t care to share the tale of my last black out - It occured sometime in the early morning hours on New Years Day, 1981. I sobered up enough to wake up on Jan 3rd.

Tales of that night by all who witnessed it: Scared. Me. Sober.

*One day at a time,

I choose once more,

Not to drink today.*

Hugs and Good Will (Power) to You.

Lucy

37

As an arguable alcoholic, I’m not very proud of it, but I have some stories I could tell about the moments described in the OP :smack:

One example was me at a party my neighbors were having last week. They are young and my age, so drinking was plentfiul and mirth abounded. I fit right in. Me being a bit attention-hog and even bigger drunkard, started double-fisting beers and telling stories. Somebody brought out a handle of rum, which I then chugged, consuming at least 8 shots worth. Stories continued, and a good time was being had by all. Sadly however, my memory rolled a critical failure 2 hours into the party, and the following was all news to me afterwards.
Things I did that I dont remember:
[ul]
[li]Drink more than some of the partiers had ever seen[/li][li]Tell amazing stories bashing my ex-GF[/li][li]make out with the dog[/li][li]Lie comatose for an hour, and then magically get up again and drink more[/li][li]from a standing position, fall flat on my face… hard[/li][/ul]

I started falling again and again, at which point they walked me home. It took me 20 minutes to get up my brick stairway. Apparently I made a drunken game out of it, taking baby steps and then backtracking, amidst my falling. Upon getting into the house, I fell onto the carpet and passed out. My parents woke up, roused me, and I then proceeded to stumble onto the coffee table and hit my head hard again. After that point, I fell asleep in the recliner until morning. Woke up with bruises of initially unknown origin >_<

The neighbors told me that I was the life of the party, and that “I was awesome.” So at least I didn’t offend anyone like I usually do :smack:

38

Apparently I was screwing a married woman over 20 years older than me. I worked with a slut at work whose daughter hung with my brothers crowd. The slut expects the same of everybody and was a rumormunger of nasty crap. I was confronted by my mother about this activity, which the slut told the daughter I was doing, that the daughter told my brother’s group and mom. The slut at work went from a person I prefer to not speak to, to I will only tell you what I have to for work. I confronted her and told her and the entire breakroom that I had had it with her fucking rumors and, if I heard anymore, she would be in personnel. How dare she tell that crap when it wasn’t occuring so she can’t tell me she had any proof. Next time she would be in court. She was a slut, and talked about her sordid past all the time in the break room. This was before the internet and she was about the same as having porn on every browser window you open, and it spawned more on it’s own when you tried to leave, all while trying to find the Sears store site.

39

Well, this isn’t alcohol- or drug-related. It happened in 7th grade.

I was a kinda scrawny kid when I was 12, and far from popular. I was teased quite often. My self-confidence was very low, and a girlfriend was out of the question because I wouldn’t have the nerve to even suggest to a girl that I would like to go steady with her.

So I was quite astonished when the snotty popular girl who sat at the desk next to mine in my 1st-period Health class informed me in a condescending tone that I had asked a certain other popular girl named Kim to go steady with me. She seemed to think this was hilarious.

Thing was, I had no idea who this girl was. I’d never even heard her name before, and I certainly hadn’t asked her out. But apparently this rumor had spread quickly, because over the course of the day I was teased about it by several other popular kids. Everybody but me thought it was pretty funny.

It wasn’t until the next day that I finally found out who this girl was. It turned out she was in my gym class, but I had somehow never noticed her (well, it was still early in the school year). I was “introduced” by another girl (who I’d told the day before that I didn’t know who this Kim was) who smirked at me as she said, “This is Kim.” Oh. My. Goodness. Kim turned out to be the prettiest girl I had ever seen at that point in my life. Actually, picturing her now, almost 30 years later, I still can’t think of too many prettier ladies who I’ve met since then. Anyway, she actually looked almost as embarrassed as I felt at that moment. I suspect she’d been hearing the same rumor and wondering who the hell I was.

Things worked out as well as could be expected. I never went out with her, but I did get to know her a little bit. She turned out to be a really sweet, kind girl.

40

Phase42, the first time something like that happened to me, I was in 4th grade. The last time, in graduate school.

Once in 12th grade, I got home and Mom was on the phone. After hanging up, she informed me that according to her friend A, I was dating my classmate T.

You see, T’s house is about 100yd from mine; there was a bar right beside it which sold ice cream and was therefore a popular hang out spot. T had missed class for the last two days (flu); I’d seen him getting into his house with his mom and hailed them to tell him we’d already made him copies of the class notes from the last two days and there was no homework at the time.

Mom thought it was hilarious that the “rumor” had traveled those 100yd faster than I did.