This makes me recall my own experience, which is not a war story for me, it's really shameful.
I actually lost a cell phone AT a liquor store, if you can believe it, which I showed up to after getting drunk at a bar the night before thanksgiving after working an evening shift.
The owner and his wife (and their kids! Makes me cringe remembering) were locking up and his family was waiting in the car. I started to leave but he told me to stay and he unlocked the store for my dumb self and sold me a couple of bottles of wine - I was afraid I wouldn't have a stash on the holiday. Even though I was drunk I could still see that showing up tipsy at the liquor store at 11 pm on Thanksgiving eve was embarrassing - and then I lost my phone in the store or in the dark outside.
Then I was somehow locked out of my house (??) and had to throw rocks at the window, trying to wake my husband but not my child, to get him to let me in. But I had my booze! I think I left it in the car to hide it from him so he wouldn't chastise me for hitting the liquor store so late.
I had to lie to my husband about where I was going and crawl (in terror and fear of my husband'a wrath) to the liquor store Thanksgiving morning and face the owner and his wife and kids again and try to find my phone because my husband was going to kill me if I lost it. It was never found and I had to confess to my husband that I lost the fancy phone. I spent all thanksgiving day drinking and miserable bc I was keeping this lost phone a secret. I told him the next day so that Thanksgiving didn't become a huge fight.
That episode was one of the nails in the coffin for my alcoholism. So I guess it's good it happened. Thanks for reminding me. I was approaching my bottom at this point.