Social

9 February 2020

For me there came a point where socializing with me drinking alcohol just wasn’t as important or practical as it used to be.  When I was younger, I was probably on my way to moderate alcoholism but one day my body told me in no uncertain terms to stop the abuse.  

Back then I could drink a pint of Wild Turkey or a twelve pack of beer. Now, when I drink too much my heart races. When my heart races I am prone to things like fainting and cardiac arrest.  Thus, my socializing is conducted using minimal alcohol.

Don’t get me wrong, I still drink from time to time but never more than two or three drinks.  My guess is that at my retirement party I had four drinks and that was more than I had consumed in one sitting in over a year.

Because I don’t drink socializing is different. Meeting at a bar at the end of a day is not required at this point in my life to engage in meaningful socializing. Today, I went out for brunch.  It was a delight.  The place was busy and lots of people were laughing and talking.  Some of them might have been taking advantage of the $4.00 Boddy Mary special. 

This day I had decaffeinated coffee.  My friend had Irish coffee with both Jameson’s and Bailey’s.  I had some eggs with cornmeal biscuits covered in sausage gravy. She had a breakfast burrito.  But most importantly we talked.  

And we talked.  And then we talked some more.  Outside the sky was light and the winter sun was shining in through the windows. Like any good breakfast place, you couldn’t really see out the windows because they were steamed up from the cooking and the conversation and the body heat generated by so many hungry people in one place.

Me, I have reached an age where I don’t need alcohol to let my barriers down.  What shred of pretentious self-concept do I have to protect at this point? What great secrets do I need carry?  The answer is not many. A moment in a window on a winter day talking about people, places and things with an old and trusted friend is as effective as six shots of single malt to make me feel good.