"Yes,and the heroin.........who doesn't have periods whare they do that?!"
now you are making ME laugh pick-a-name!
It was like gee, everyone does it (Well, actually his son was doing it, his nephew, his niece, his brother, many friends.. so... yeah, like no big deal.
And my all time favorite was "you don't know ANYTHING about it. It's not that bad." (really????? hmmm. i must be an idiot to think that heroin is actually BAD).
(he is in group therapy for his heroin addiction, but they touch on all addictions)
And the maintenance thing i think you hit right on the head. He was trying to make it sound like the therapist thinks it's not so bad. BUT in actuality his alcoholism is becoming just like his heroin use. he wants to avoid withdrawl at all costs. that is something i never really thought of the withdrawl part. i just figured he wanted to be constantly high.