When I was a teenager, I worked part-time at a local government office – quite a large one with perhaps 200 people employed in the one building. At the stroke of 12:00, several times a week, the building would empty, people would carpool to the nearest restaurant and have a proper, sit-down lunch. Lunch included [...]
How do you know if you are an alcoholic? Most of us aren't surrounded by people who will come up to as and tell us. Many of us find out way too late, after the damage has been done. What are the signs of alcoholism and how is it different from just being a "partier" [...]
Having attended numerous Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, I have always considered addiction synonymous with "loser." I know that's wrong and unfair, but the first thing that comes to mind when I think of an alcoholic or drug addict is a tattooed man, smelling of cigarette smoke, wearing saggy jeans and an old baseball cap. It is [...]
A slippery slope is defined as "a tricky precarious situation, especially one that leads gradually but inexorably to disaster." The slippery slope is the fear of every alcoholic. The slippery slope is for some people that first drink. For others it is a pain-killer or cough medicine. For someone I know, a mouthful of Scope [...]
At the age of sixteen, a Christmas gift from my parents was a splendid "Beers of the World" collection, featuring 12 bottles of beer from different countries. Earlier that year I had spent several drunken evenings finishing off boxes of wine with my mother. I was the chief "joint-roller" in my home, with an innate [...]
So, the unexamined life is not worth living. At least that's what Socrates said. Is it true? Do we have to examine the minutiae of ourselves in order to live a fulfilling life? Step 10 of Alcoholics Anonymous requires an honest personal inventory and a commitment to admitting to our wrongs. I did some research [...]
Growing up the child of an alcoholic is not a normal childhood. Unfortunately, I didn't find that out until I was a grown up. I assumed every child made a drink for dad when he got home. I assumed every child stepped over dad, passed out in the hallway, on her way to bed. I [...]
My obsession with Seinfeld continues. In "The Apology," Jerry's friend "Hanky" (played by James Spader) is a recovering alcoholic. As he approaches Step 9 and begins to apologize to people he had harmed in the past, George is miffed for not getting his apology. Apparently Hanky had insulted George years ago by refusing to lend [...]
After several years of therapy and sobriety, I had accidentally found myself at the equivalent of Alcoholics Anonymous' Step 6. I had accepted my defects of character, accepted the fact that I wasn't quite the superstar I thought I was, and I was now to become ready to have the higher power remove my defects [...]
An alcoholic is an alcoholic, right? Whether male or female, black or white, gay or straight, we're all the same. Wrong. Female alcoholics differ substantially from their male counterparts in many ways. Female alcoholics are far more often the victims of sexual abuse than men. Unfortunately, many of these same women were considered promiscuous or [...]
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