 But it was under Dean's unknowing tutelage that I came to understand that drinking
alcohol doesn't have to end up like that. It can be an enjoyable thing. Not
something used to enhance the fun. Never that. That's just another road to alcoholism.
But just enjoy it for what it was. An addition to the fun. It's just there.
You can take it or leave it and it doesn't have to affect your enjoyment of the
situation in anyway.
There are times when I'd go out with friends and all I'd have would be a soda
and that's it. And I'd have just as much fun as the rest who were drinking.
Thanks to Dean, I also learned a little bit of valuable information. If at any
point you do start to feel a little intoxicated, take advantage of the marvelous
cures that ALL bars provide, but that not many patrons are aware of. Ice, salt, pretzels and water. Any of those four items can stop you from humiliating yourself. Well to a point
anyway. You've also got to be aware of WHEN you first realize that you're heading
into the danger area. I think that's probably the problem for most people. They
never seem to have that little alarm within that says '
STOP! You're not as steady as you think.'
I've got that alarm. And I live by it. It rooms with my internal alarm clock
and my biological clock. I think it works so perfectly for me because it's a
combination of Dean's teaching and my desire to NEVER be like my father. Anytime I'm out with my friends and I'm drinking, I am ALWAYS aware of that little alarm. I feel it the instant the level of alcohol in my
blood rises to the point where it feels like I'm going in slow motion. Like you're
just a second behind in your actions, but you're mind's racing ahead wondering
where you are. Once I feel that, I add ice to my drink. Or if I'm already drinking
a frozen drink, I start in on the pretzels, or I ask for a glass of water.
The purpose of all this, my dear Dean informed me, was to dilute and absorb some
of the alcohol in your system. Now I don't know if there's any scientific basis
behind this, but my friends would swear that it works since I can typically drink
any of them under the table and still walk a straight line while they're wobbling
on their feet after the third shot of Jose Cuervo. Most people only have one
possible hope for not getting drunk and that's to have a solid meal before they
start drinking. Well there you go, you've got a bunch of stuff in there to absorb
the alcohol. You're all set. Maybe there is something to Dean's theory.
{
If you're wondering about the salt, you add it to your drink. Doesn't change
the taste, but apparently it helps to make you perspire, which also helps. And
thirsty, which goes hand in hand with the water.}
Real or not, I stick to it and I can count on one hand the number of times I've
been drunk in my life. The first time I was 11 or 12 and my brother dared me
to drink several capfuls of this bottle of rum my father had stored away. Suffice
it to say that was my first lesson. NEVER do anything because someone dares you. You end up talking to the wrong end of a cow. And there are so many things
wrong with that simple sentence that it was enough to inspire me to never drink
again because of a dare.
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