some people get sad or angry when they get drunk. I get overwhelmed with the profundity of otherwise mundane things, so much so that I sometimes am moved to tears. It’s annoying, because outwardly it often seems like an entirely inappropriate reaction to whatever subject is under discussion. FWIW, “drunk” is an exaggeration: two beers is enough to put me into this vulnerable state.
Last night it was baseball. I’m not even a big baseball fan, but it happened to be on TV while we were eating dinner at this restaurant. We watched a runner steal second base, and it suddenly occurred to me how cool it was that MLB had nailed the exact distance between bases that would make this interesting. Stealing second isn’t at all a sure thing (which is why it’s interesting), but it would be if the distance were longer or shorter. Somehow that struck me as profoundly cool, and I got all choked up as I was explaining it to my wife.
Last week a friend was relating his experiences over the previous few years practicing medicine in west Africa, and I was struggling not to melt down in amazement at the things he was telling me: happy people (despite the utter lack of internet, TV, iPads, or cars), and children with no fear of total strangers (all gently vying with each other to hold the doctor’s hands as he walked through the marketplace).
My wife thinks I’m a sad drunk because this happened a couple of times when I was explaining Pink Floyd lyrics to her (I had previously told her that I listened to PF 15 years ago when I was depressed). It wasn’t that I was sad though (when I was ‘splaining it), just amazed at the poetic quality of Roger Waters’ lyrics.
It sometimes happens sober, but that’s much more rare. Last time I was really overwhelmed was at Fort McHenry last fall. The visitor center has a short movie that vividly portrays the battle of Fort McHenry (and the encompassing Battle of Baltimore); the movie concludes with a really stunning choral rendition of the national anthem (which of course famously came out of that battle). The anthem was absolutley beautiful and left me not just teary-eyed, but openly crying at what a profoundly cool story they had just told - no beer required. Sitting in a small theatre full of strangers whose reaction to the movie was more along the lines of “meh,” I was acutely embarrassed, but powerless to stop it from happening.
I never used to be like this. Is this just something that happens to men as they age (I’m 42)? Am I going to get weepy-eyed at pictures of kittens by the time I’m 60, even if I swear off of beer altogether?
