Rift

This is an odd habit of mine. I would smoke a ton of cigs when I drank. I don't smoke cigs at all when I am sober. Then again i used to be an everyday smoker back in the day, but I haven't been a smoker since I was 23.

Another thing I would always do is listen to music when I drank. I mean I do that sober, but it was an automatic thing when I drank. Gotta have some music.

Fandy

i rotated liquor stores too, i was always having a "dinner party"...in reality it was just me and my liver.

i was always very concerned about what the recycle people thought of me...and my gigantic 30 gallon container with wheels on it, filled to the brim with wine bottles every 2 weeks....now adays it's just cat food cans and plastic smart water bottles and food containers...because i eat normal.

i was walking the dog a few weeks ago during recycle day...and saw a container filled with the same bottles i had used to put out....they had so much that they had filled up the standard container and had lined up the giant glass jugs on the curb....i figured they were drinking about the same as me,,,8-10 large glasses a night.

least

I thought I was so damn smart cause I had a hiding place for my wine that the kids would never find. They never found it but since I got sober I showed it to my one kid and she was floored by it, having never suspected it was there. I was so smart...

Reset

I never cared what the liquor store people thought because I was usually trying to race in there to get my booze before the 7PM closing time.

I did go through an elaborate ritual of disguising the bottles in the recycling bin though, as well as positioning the recycling in a way that cars driving by couldn't see the bottles in the bin from the street.

Toward the end of my drinking days I'd hide in the kitchen at night, especially when my sons would have friends over. I'd cook and prep for the next meals and clean and do whatever so that I could stay in the kitchen and drink in private. Sometimes I'd wake up the next day and find the kitchen spotless and wonder what the hell happened the night before. Better than embarrassing my sons in front of their friends I guess.

EmeraldRose

You guys crack me up! LOL

Guilty of rotating stores, too. Unfortunately, when I lived in PA they were state stores and I'd drive 20 minutes to one out of town and see the same employees. If they were short of help they'd switch stores. Arrrgh. LOL

I am also guilty of telling one lady at the liquor store that someone had given me an awesome recipe that was delicious -but uses whiskey! Duh

jerseytomato

Of course I did the rotating of liquor store thing. I put a lot of time, thought and effort into not getting caught especially when I was married (I'm divorced now). But I would take water bottles to the liquor store, buy my liquor, fill up the water bottle and then throw the bottle in the trash immediately just so my ex wouldn't find the bottle. Sometimes if I didn't have a water bottle I would buy the liquor and leave it somewhere outside hidden so that when my ex was in the basement I could run out and bring it in the house. I had creative hiding spots, many of which went hidden for several months at a time and my ex would search the house high and low every day. He thought he could control my drinking and never really got the concept that I would find a way to drink if I wanted to.

Boleo

I would rotate the five liquor stores I purchased from in a round-robin way. The store owners didn't want to lose their best customer so they limited me to only one pint per day. LOL!

LexieCat

She was probably wondering whether you were cooking for fifty, lol.

PartyOn

I would put vodka in a water bottle and carry it in my purse when we were out in public. It looked like water...LOL! It eventually turned into an "inside joke" . Friends would say "Hey, I'm thirsty....got any water?" But then I would be totally sober and would actually be drinking water and they thought I was drinking vodka...LOL!

mmh364

These posts are a riot! I too rotated liquor stores for wine and right before christmas I would buy a few cases of red wine to give as gifts. Yeah, right. No wine left this house.

And as far as the music thing. I totally forgot about that even though it's only been about 2 1/2 months. I would totally rock out or if the music was too loud for my kids I'd plug in my headphones and dance and sing. Then after a few hours I'd plop in my chair and that was it.... I would just sit in a total stupor.

So glad I'm past that...

bevin

I drank a lot of 'coffee' out of those plastic go cups with the screw on lids. I had more than one incident where something would jog it and the carbonation would make the contents come foaming out of the top. Walking around in socks soaked with beer is not a good experience.

DesiresChange

I'm new to the site...just started quitting today...time for a change. I thought this post was funny because I definitely did a lot of the same things. Definitely switched out stores like you all did. Some of the clerks got to know me so well that they would call me out if I switched to a different brand of beer for the night. Some of the funniest things I did involved my ex-gf. When we were together I would give her excuses as to why she had to leave early each night to go back to her apartment because they quit selling beer at midnight. I'd start getting really nervous on the nights that she'd cut it real close. I'd also buy my beer before I went home from work sometimes and leave it in my car so I wouldn't have to stress about her leaving. Probably the funniest was the nights that she'd spend the night. I'd always have an excuse to drink but she'd never let me have more than four so every chance I got I would chug as many as I could and then fill the bottle up with cold water and put the cap back on it. She always thought I had four but there were nothing but bottles of water in the fridge the next day.

BloodnbonE

some funny stories! i cant say ive had any elaborate plans to make myself appear less alcoholic to others.

SomethingBetter

Guilty of most of the above, but the craziest thing I'd do on nearly a daily basis is come home with a 12 pack and a extra single 40 to a six pack. The store clerks would sometimes ask about the extra single, I would simply say it's for the ride home but one thing I didn't do too much is drive while drinking.

I'd get out of the truck walk around and hide the extra outside somewhere to prevent the wife and kids finding out, she once started checking the truck so needed to be out of there.

I would almost always wait till they we're in bed before going out to get them.

If I were drinking cans and the extra were bottles I would cleverly pour the bottles into the last can used or just down the bottle all at once, not giving much thought if the neighbors were watching.

During summer months this meant warm beer which I hated,

I finally found a store that never ever ask questions, if it was a 12 and 6 or 2 12s whatever it was, I hated when anyone would tell me it's cheaper to buy a 30 pack. Hell I know that... I've spent a lot of money covering up how much I really drank.

This sounds so bad actualy saying it... I wish it weren't true.

Che

Often wouldn't start until late at night because I wanted to be sure I wouldn't be disturbed. Preferred vodka because I thought I could drink it after brushing my teeth without needing to brush my teeth again, and therefore could just fall asleep if I wanted instead of needing to try brushing my teeth in a drunken stupor. Used to take a bunch of wine bottles and such (I had incredibly cheap two dollar wines...) in a backpack and throw them in the public trashcan at the park with a friend so that there wouldn't suddenly be a bunch of wine bottles in the bin at the end of my driveway. When I started getting complaints 'why does it smell like wine in here?' (to which I'd claim it was just tea) I started taking plastic wrap and covering most of the glass with it so the smell wouldn't permeate the room.

So many shameful things... All I wanted was to be left alone and drink myself into a quiet submission. It makes me sad to think about it. If I could go back in time, I don't even know what I'd tell myself. I'd believed I was just doing what I needed to get through the day and alleviate my depression and circular thoughts of unfair things that had happened to me that day. "You're going to grow tolerant to that 'medication' if you use it so often, and then you're going to be left with nothing to make the pain go away." What would my reply be? "I don't care, I'm hurting now and I want it to stop." Stupid kid.

Chloe03

OMG...this is the crap I use to do all the time! Some of my friends still don't believe I'm drinking "just" water! *** I hang my head in shame...

pounding

Im on day one again. I only ever come onto this site when I want to stop drinking. I drink every single night without fail.

Im ashamed to say I still do all of those things. I stash my beer and wine in the boot of my car, in the shed,in my garage, behind the door of my computer cabinet. Reading this thread has made me look behind that door and take out a bottle of red and large empty can to the bin.

Sometimes I try and pretend im a responsible drinker by actually keeping it in the drinks cabinet.

My recycling bin weighs a ton and Im embarrassed when they empty it. As for shopping for beer and wine, I now go to the cheapest outlet (I used to alternate but alcohol is getting expensive here in the UK.) - i now alternate cashiers so they dont get to recognise me.

My kids openly call me an alcoholic now - im ashamed and I want to prove them wrong.

I havent drunk tonight and will go to bed in a minute and try and read a book. My mouth has that metallic taste that I get when I need a drink plus reading a previous post about drinking on a sunnny day has done my head in.

TwelveSteps

I've done all of these things -- also, I switched almost exclusively to a brand of wine I discovered that comes in a 1L cardboard box for environmental reasons (but it's actually decent wine), so that the recycling wouldn't clink. Of course, I could have gotten the same result all along if I had just bought those giant boxes of Franzia wine or whatever, but I would never have gotten that cheap stuff because (say it with me now!) then the clerk WOULD THINK I'M AN ALCOHOLIC! Lol.

GG

Cindi74

I've pulled that (vodka in water bottles) trick many times....

sezegg

Its crazy isnt it! When i was living at my parents it was terrible, I used to order online with sainsburys so they would deliver, tell them I was having a party and stash the bottles of vodka on top of my wardrobe, as they got empty i take the dog for a walk put the emptys in my backpack and dispose of them at the park. The fear was horrific I remember one day that i hadnt thrown any emptys away and every time i opened the wardrobe you could hear the clinking on top of my wardrobe!

I tried most methods of sneaking booze in, every friday was a trauma as I used to go round town with a friend and get wasted but i knew i needed something for the saturday besides the 4 beers i was allowed by my parents so it was a whole ritual. Get to the shop, fill a water bottle with vodka then fill this empty hairspray bottle in my room with the vodka and place on top of my wardrobe for saturday.

I remember the fear of not wanting to leave my room in case anything was found, i was totally paranoid even when they didnt suspect anything!