Looking_back
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Looking_back
i grew up in a family of daily drinkers. Every night, my dad would drink 4-6 beers, my mom wine, then scotch. They weren't visibly drunk to my 12yr old eyes. Today, we'd call them functioning alcoholics. Growing up, they were just like everyone else.
I remember watching sitcoms, and alcohol was a big part of the story. I remember most shows showed one scene where one adult would offer another a drink from a shelf with 20+ bottles. Barnaby Jones & Kojack stood out as substituting for liquor. But most of the people drank.
I watched this interview with Richard Burton. Richard Burton died at 58 with a ruined liver. In the interview, he quaintly, o-so-matter-of-factly states "My father, like me, had a bit of a taste for the hard liquor."
The interview was in 1980. He downplays a serious addiction, portrays it as a naughty fondness similar to eating too much candy. When authority figures portray these dangers so lightheartedly, how's a kid supposed to sense danger?
It took me a while to figure out that everybody doesn't drink, that alcohol isn't everywhere, that's it's just a part of life. It's wierd for me to look back, to see the progression of my own alcoholism. I certainly didn't want to harm myself, and i wasn't trying to be a rebel. I was trying to fit in, actually. Drinking is what people did, and i like people, so, i drank (and yes, i liked it a lot when i was younger). By the time i was 15, we'd get beer friday, saturday and often sunday. We'd play baseball/basketball/football, but we always were drinking.
My neighborhood was blue-collar irish. Alcohol, alcohol everywhere. When i look back, it's not hard to see how it all started. It wasn't exactly expected, but I guess it was assumed that many of the boys would drink. No big deal.
Mickey Mantel's sons said the only time they could talk to him was if they sat with him in the bar, drinking with him.
None of these are reasons to continue drinking. The past is over, and the past had it's mistakes. Today is a new day, with new decisions to make.
Here's the Richard Burton interview w/dick cavett, if you're interested.
Opinion - Dick Cavett Blog - NYTimes.com
I remember watching sitcoms, and alcohol was a big part of the story. I remember most shows showed one scene where one adult would offer another a drink from a shelf with 20+ bottles. Barnaby Jones & Kojack stood out as substituting for liquor. But most of the people drank.
I watched this interview with Richard Burton. Richard Burton died at 58 with a ruined liver. In the interview, he quaintly, o-so-matter-of-factly states "My father, like me, had a bit of a taste for the hard liquor."
The interview was in 1980. He downplays a serious addiction, portrays it as a naughty fondness similar to eating too much candy. When authority figures portray these dangers so lightheartedly, how's a kid supposed to sense danger?
It took me a while to figure out that everybody doesn't drink, that alcohol isn't everywhere, that's it's just a part of life. It's wierd for me to look back, to see the progression of my own alcoholism. I certainly didn't want to harm myself, and i wasn't trying to be a rebel. I was trying to fit in, actually. Drinking is what people did, and i like people, so, i drank (and yes, i liked it a lot when i was younger). By the time i was 15, we'd get beer friday, saturday and often sunday. We'd play baseball/basketball/football, but we always were drinking.
My neighborhood was blue-collar irish. Alcohol, alcohol everywhere. When i look back, it's not hard to see how it all started. It wasn't exactly expected, but I guess it was assumed that many of the boys would drink. No big deal.
Mickey Mantel's sons said the only time they could talk to him was if they sat with him in the bar, drinking with him.
None of these are reasons to continue drinking. The past is over, and the past had it's mistakes. Today is a new day, with new decisions to make.
Here's the Richard Burton interview w/dick cavett, if you're interested.
Opinion - Dick Cavett Blog - NYTimes.com
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