WhoDeyPI

Hey ya'll....another sober weekend under the belt...and day 265 for me.

Brief summary of my weekend until I get into the meat of this post. It was a nonstop weekend for me. I actually feel like I need a weekend to decompress from the weekend. Not a bad thing, as those who are familiar with my journey know that I credit my sobriety to staying busy. Saturday I ran a 5k (Charity run for healing/recovery), then hit the weights after, then went to a pool party at a friends house until the night hours. Went on a mountain hike yesterday, and ended the day getting a few games of bowling in for practice.

OKAY, SO. I know some of ya'll enjoy my deep meaningful unapologetic posts....but this one isn't really that:

DRUNK PEOPLE ARE ANNOYING, SLOPPY, AND DISGUSTING

Seriously, I cannot BELIEVE that I was one of them. I mean, I can believe it, because I WAS, but....how embarrassing! As I hung out this group of people Saturday night, the same people that I consider my closest friends, it was truly a journey into who I used to be and how others saw me. Being the only sober person hanging around about 6 drunks.....I was seriously shocked.

When everyone was:

Sober - Pleasant convo, good happy vibes.

Tipsy - Laughing at sophomoric jokes, but still good company, fun convo.

Mildly drunk - I started rolling my eyes as they randomly started dancing, and I ended up joining in.

Mad drunk - The claws came out. The good vibes were GONE. Screaming matches erupted for nonsensical reasons such as which topping to order on the pizzas. People stormed out. Everyone seemed to be "talking crap" about those who they just called friends an hour earlier.

Stupid drunk - The random anger faded, and it was replaced with huge amounts of DUMB. I swear they started repeating the same nonsense over and over. Slurring words bad, one girl repeated "the pool light is beautiful/gorgeous/unbelievable" at least 24 times in 30 minutes. Drinks were spilt all over, it was just a mess.

And there I was, sitting outside enjoying the nice night by the pool. The mad drunks were gone, the stupid drunks were passed out. A few of the normal drinkers didn't really "go hard" , so I had a few sound minded people to converse with. They confirmed that they used to see me as a sloppy out of control drunk, exactly how I just viewed the others.

I'm definitely able to be around alcohol, and very okay being around drunks. I wasn't tempted to drink....quite the opposite actually. Seeing people the way I saw them just makes me that more grateful for my sobriety, and makes me even more dedicated to staying this way.

Stay strong, my friends.

Tailai

babycat

I sometimes wish someone had recorded me of when I used to be horribly sloppy drunk. I mean, I am super glad I have never seen it because I can't imagine just how embarrassing that would be, but perhaps I would have learned sooner? Lol, doubtful, really. would have just drank more to forget my embarrassment.
Always love your posts.

Caprice6

Way before drinking became a problem for me, my first job was as a bartender. We'd usually do big receptions such as weddings, anniversaries, office parties, conventions, funerals, holidays, ceremonies etc. i have many stories including newly married men hitting on us and what not.
There is nothing worse than being sober and surrounded by drunks. Back then I'd sometimes accept a few shots just to be able to tolerate and also enjoy the evening.
Even up to today, I have difficulty being around drunk people who get loud, obnoxious, repeat themselves etc. sometimes even when I'd drink I found them annoying cuz I kept relatively quiet in public, mindful, in my own world.
There's really no sense of getting smashed.

Caprice6

will add there were many times I got stupid too, like immitating foreign accents (American Southern from the Bayou's of Louisiana I never really heard but imagined) and entertaining other drunks, or hopping over fences and swimming with other drunks in pools (those days early 20's weren't always so bad), or making a general ass of myself.
I recall telling my best friend once how embarrassed I was after a night of drinking and bar hopping and she told me, "why do you drink when you're always embarrassed after?" One time I recall talking to a guy I had a crush on and he actually told me, "..ok, keep digging." Not so fun, but we became friends a few years later.

NerfThis

It's definitely a different world when you start to attend these sorts of events sober! people getting louder and louder as the night goes on, repeating things multiple times, arguing.

I try not to judgmental now I'm living a sober life. I'm not better than my friends just because I don't drink, don't get silly and can remember everything the next day. However, I too have a limit to the level of 'drunk' I can take from people, so I'd have been rolling my eyes at the point people were storming out and fighting with each other.

CRRHCC

My wife and I once attended a birthday party. My wife brought a camcorder.
I got so drunk that when our car pulled into the garage I opened the door to get out and fell down and puked. She recorded me on all fours crawling into the house. It took me 5 minutes to go 10 feet.

I still have the CD.

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me."
1 Corinthians 13:11

lessgravity

While I also have seen what you described several times since I've gotten sober, I'm also privy to the responsible, take it or leave it drinker. My wife, other people that I know, enjoy alcohol in an adult manner, responsibly and not all that often. It relaxes them, allows them to enjoy themselves in a looser way than without alcohol. I'm envious. But it's just not the life that I've been given.

Anyhow, I just wanted to recognize that. It's easy for me to turn up my nose and be dismissive at the sloppy drunks. But my sobriety also needs to be fortified by seeing that there are plenty of people out there for whom alcohol is not a problem and who enjoy it in ways that I was never able.

Hevyn

Thank you, WhoDey - I'm glad you stayed classy & above it all.

Similar to CRRHCC - my son once tape recorded me on a night when we were just sitting around talking. I thought I was fine - witty & clever. Went to bed feeling it had been a nice evening. Next morning he played the tape, not in a mean way - but to show me how misguided I was in thinking I was 'fine' when I drank. It was humiliating - to hear me go from normal to giddy to stupid to argumentative & angry. It wasn't long before I admitted defeat.

WhoDeyPI

Yesterday they were all talking about the night as if the drunken shenanigans never even happened. The drunk couple that got in a fight over pizza toppings is still broken up, so there's that.

I'm not judging anyone, but it was definitely a shocking look at what I once was like, and was clueless that I was acting like that. Heck, I'm sure I was even worse!! Proud to say those days are OVER.

Newbeginning421

Did you enjoy hanging out with them? In past the few times i decided to stay sober when my friends reached the mildly drunk stage I found myself wanting to be somewhere else. Did not feel out of place or awkward more like yeah this convo is going nowhere and nothing constructive is happening.

MLD51

I can hang out with my friends who still drink, up to a point. I usually cut bait when the slurring and repeating starts. It's just not fun when they get that way. I'm not judging, I just make an excuse and leave. One person once accused me of being all "high and mighty" now that I don't drink because I left early from a party. I quickly set him straight - I do not feel for one second I'm better than anyone. I was as bad or worse than any of them. After all, I'm the one with 3 DUIs. Most of them haven't had one. Most of them never fell and hurt themselves so badly they ended up in the hospital. Most of them didn't end up wishing to be dead on a regular basis. So no judgement here - just an unwillingness to spend a bunch of time watching people I like and care about getting closer and closer to the abyss that I experienced.

WhoDeyPI

Well, the glory of it was since I was sober....I could leave whenever I wanted. I did very much enjoy the night.

The first couple hours was great, before people were drunk. Then I got annoyed for awhile, but was able to make it through to the point when all the really drunk ones either called an Uber, or passed out. Then I was left with the people who were just milking a beer all night.