# I am an alcoholic **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2016, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859 "2016-01-22T05:16:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/81 "2016-01-22T08:28:32Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Who would you most like to get drunk with? You. Or David Bowie. Or anybody right now. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/82 "2016-01-22T08:39:47Z")
Would you rather have a bottle in front of you or a frontal lobotomy? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/83 "2016-01-22T08:41:25Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Would you rather have a bottle in front of you or a frontal lobotomy? Easy. Bottle in front of me. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/84 "2016-01-22T08:44:44Z")
What is your favorite alcoholic beverage? Ginger or Maryann? Bowie or Mercury? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/85 "2016-01-22T08:50:17Z")
Blackwell Rum when I feel flush with cash. Otherwise Seagrams 7 whiskey. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/86 "2016-01-22T09:17:05Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I like sobriety. I just like drinking more. The only problem is drinking has consecuenses. Hence the irony. I should have asked you this in my previous post. Have you ever considered other ways to get loaded? I mean, have you ever considered any other ways to get high? Have you tried many? I’m thinking maybe you might find something else besides alcohol? I’m asking you this because perhaps you could find something that would enable you to feel good but would be less dangerous that booze? Specifically wondering about the dangers associated with drinking and driving. Or maybe even drinking and fighting? Or any one of a number of other dangers people may face after drinking. Have you ever tried other drugs? And if so, did you ever find anything that pleased you? Please don’t feel like you are under any obligations to answer. But if you have had some good experiences with some other drugs and you feel that you don’t face as many dangers with them, then maybe it might be of some interest to you to switch to some other drug? Any chance? ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/87 "2016-01-22T12:33:27Z")
> [@Blackstock](#): > > I drank a massive amount of whiskey on a daily basis for many years. I gave up on the 3rd of January 2016 and have been clean since. I’ve outlined my struggle with it, and how I managed to do it in this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=780541). Like most alcoholics, my behavior toward alcohol or any other substance isn’t governed by any law other than law of crave it-do it-regret it. If you’re interested, go read the OP in that thread. > > My problem with alcohol besides health issues was that it halted my intellectual progress and reduced it to a minuscule value. I wasn’t learning, reading or writing anything new, and my entire focus was on food and sex; nothing else. Since I quit, I’ve nearly finished two books and continued to learn German online - something I’d abandoned many years ago. I am catching up wonderfully. I am not affected by either lust or appetite the same way I was while I was drinking, nor anywhere near it. Maybe it’s too early to speak, but I am simply feeling much better. No cravings, either. > > Alcohol is an earthly substance that reduces your entire experience on this wonderful planet in this incredibly short allocation of time into biological activities more becoming of a predecessor to humanity rather than an active participant in it. > > I wish you the best. Great post, Blackstock. Crave it-do it-regret it really sums it up! I’m very happy for you. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/88 "2016-01-22T13:37:00Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Have you ever considered other ways to get loaded? I mean, have you ever considered any other ways to get high? Have you tried many? Along the same vein as **Charlie** ’s post (and **Charlie** , I gotta say it’s much nicer to have this **Charlie** , the lucid, contributing, **Charlie** ) I have seen more than 1 alcoholic helped by the recreational use of marijuana. The upside is that you’re doing much less damage to your liver and brain, the downside is that you’re replacing one crutch with another. In your position, I would take marijuana over alcohol for binge use. A litre of whiskey in a sitting ain’t no joke. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/89 "2016-01-22T13:41:07Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Tomorrow at 8:59am I will report that my car will not start due to unseasonably low temperatures, and as a consequence I cannot appear at the office. I will begin working at at 9:00am at home. By virtue of being remote, nobody will notice that I am lying on my floor in the fetal position, only responding to the most critical issues. It’s good to be white. Don’t want to bring you down, but your coworkers can probably see the truth behind the situation. Whether that matters to your employment situation or not is maybe another story. When I admitted to a co-worker or two that I had an issue, the response was an immediate, “I know.” One co-worker was even able to tell me the type of alcohol I liked based on the smell around my person. Embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/90 "2016-01-22T15:10:32Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Please don’t feel like you are under any obligations to answer. But if you have had some good experiences with some other drugs and you feel that you don’t face as many dangers with them, then maybe it might be of some interest to you to switch to some other drug? > > Any chance? OK, harm reduction. Fair question, and I did try that. I wish I was a stoner rather than a drinker, but the problem with drug-swapping is that all inebriants undermine your judgment. If say I substitute my drink for a big fat J, then my stoned brain says “this is great fun, but a shot of rum would send it over the top.” So it might work, but it would have to be under adult supervision, which is not applicable in my situation. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/91 "2016-01-22T15:21:13Z")
In the cold hard light of day, I’d like to thank everyone for supporting me in the midst of my little meltdown here. Nothing has changed since last night except now I feel like a bag of ass. I know I’ve got to quit this. I don’t drink every day, my thing is to binge 2 random days out of the week. And I don’t even intend to binge, I just want 2 shots, and somehow it inevitably turns into slamming a fifth and acting out online. So I’m not sure where I’m going with this, but thanks for being there. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/92 "2016-01-22T15:24:35Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > Don’t want to bring you down, but your coworkers can probably see the truth behind the situation. Whether that matters to your employment situation or not is maybe another story. > > When I admitted to a co-worker or two that I had an issue, the response was an immediate, “I know.” One co-worker was even able to tell me the type of alcohol I liked based on the smell around my person. Embarrassing. Oh yeah, with the amount that the OP drinks, the alcohol is seeping through his pores. Can’t tell you how many people have walked into AA meetings smelling like peppermint and vodka. Keep coming, as the saying goes. ETA: Don’t worry about it, HMSI. Lots of help around if you want to avail yourself of it. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/93 "2016-01-22T15:28:36Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > Don’t want to bring you down, but your coworkers can probably see the truth behind the situation. Whether that matters to your employment situation or not is maybe another story. I hear what you are saying. I work in IT for a mega-multi-national conglomerate that has offshored, nearshored, or rightshored their operations across 18 time zones. Most of my interactions are via chat and email. I get my job done. The most people notice is that sometimes my response is 2 minutes rather than 1 minute, and that my car seems extraordinarily unreliable for a Honda. But thanks for the reality check, clearly I can’t do this forever. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/94 "2016-01-22T15:30:01Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I hear what you are saying. I work in IT for a mega-multi-national conglomerate that has offshored, nearshored, or rightshored their operations across 18 time zones. Most of my interactions are via chat and email. I get my job done. The most people notice is that sometimes my response is 2 minutes rather than 1 minute, and that my car seems extraordinarily unreliable for a Honda. But thanks for the reality check, clearly I can’t do this forever. Ok, we really have to talk. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/95 "2016-01-22T15:39:39Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Ok, we really have to talk. OK, I’ll PM you. Just maybe not this exact moment right now. I’m having car trouble. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/96 "2016-01-22T15:45:11Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > OK, I’ll PM you. Just maybe not this exact moment right now. I’m having car trouble. np, the day is long. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/97 "2016-01-22T16:39:54Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Thanks for responding. Lots of things are on my mind. One thing I’m wrestling with is Hillary vs. Bernie. Another - is medical marijuana bullshit… A tough lesson for me to accept was not to wrestle with giant monsters, or at the very least to not get emotionally invested in the battle and result. In the context of drinking, if you can turn your role in mega-issues into analyzing and witnessing the spectacle (of which you have near-zero power to affect) instead of anger, disgust, and frustration, then the drinking role becomes more of a “ha ha, cheers!” instead of “bullshit” response. Turns it more into a choice instead of a response, and puts you in control. My two cents, best wishes ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/98 "2016-01-23T07:39:26Z")
Drunk person playlist for tonight: “Rio” by Duran Duran, played 18 times in a row. Who’s down? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/99 "2016-01-23T07:46:25Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Drunk person playlist for tonight: “Rio” by Duran Duran, played 18 times in a row. Who’s down? why not [Men Without Hats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjPau5QYtYs) ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859/100 "2016-01-23T07:49:55Z")
Rio just has the bass line. Listen to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr3HCNIgv40), it is the bass line, not a solo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-an-alcoholic/743859.md?page=6)