Live

Normies don't answer those police knocking by stepping outside the door and closing it because the pizzed off A is going to blame shift and try to convince them that we have illegal drugs hidden and then we are going to be asked permission for them to look around the house.

aaarrrgggh!

Live

normies do not buy as many extra sets of matching dishes and glasses just so they can have one matching set for the table when inevitably some of the original set get busted up.

Live

okay, okay, I admit it...I threw some too. That wasn't normie and I don't do it anymore.

(I swear it was provoked officer)

wicked

alright, since you admitted to being provoked,
I was too!
but now, i am one of the normies, or as close as i wanna get.

Live

Normies do not think that a freshly showered, mouthwash and perfumed/scented mate is covering up (or trying to) drugs or alcohol give-aways.

Live

Normies do not gush that "yes, honey, it HAS been a WHOLE week since you have drank" with stars in their eyes.

chicory

Oh, that is soooo funny. thanks for the laugh

pixilation

Normies don't cringe when they hear the crack of a beer can opening. Nor can they feel their blood pressure rise steadily along with the number of drinks consumed.

BumblingAlong

Yes - that sound of a beer can opening used to make my heart sink. Or the sound of the ice cubes clanking in the glass before he poured it full of scotch.

Normies don't lie to everyone to cover up their A's drinking.

Normies don't allow the twisted actions to become "normal".

Normies don't feel mortified when their A has a LOUD hiccup attack after dinner in a nice restaurant.

Normies have never been woken from a deep sleep by their A vomiting in his sleep. (that was a GROSS and scary event)

I haven't had to deal with all these things for over a year - so (thank GOD) my memory is fading.

pixilation

Oh, normies don't feel guilty for enjoying an alcoholic drink themselves.

I can't even bring myself to get a margarita on my birthday anymore.

Live

normies think there is a major housecleaning going on when all the bedding is hanging out on the line.

chicory

Normies don't scour the ingredients list of every over the counter medication they are thinking of purchasing for their colds, in fear of something that can be abused in any remote way.

Normies don't come home from work, in blood-hound mode, looking for clues in every thing -like water on the floor (dropped ice cubes), or the half-empty can of soup with the spoon in it, in the fridge, or the front door left open, or the house being all dark when you come home at night.

Normies don't hide the vanilla in an old bag of stale coffee beans.

Normies don't have that tightening up in the stomach when they pull in the drive of their home.

Linkmeister

For me, the sound as a beer can was opening (I can still hear it as I write this) which to me, is louder and more "frothy" than a pop can.

The beer can sound was always more sinister to me because when these cans opened, usually in rapid succession, I knew what was coming as he always started with beer then graduated to hard liquor.

To this day, either sound-beer or pop cans opening makes me cringe. When my mom was here last year, she witnessed my reaction as she opened a can of ginger ale and saw me turn pale and begin to tense up. When I told her why, she could not believe how such a simple sound could affect me so deeply.

One more thing a "normie" wouldn't know:

The first name of the pharmacist and pharmacy technicians where he got his ativan for detox, the nurses at the local walk-in clinic where I would take him when he detoxed and how much ativan he had to take to detox.

Pelican

Normies don't have security blocks on their bank accounts. They don't have to show ID just to order new checks.

Normies don't know what it feels like to wake up in the middle of the night to a urine soaked bed.

Then have the other adult jump up and deny they soiled the bed.
Even though their side is the wet side.

Ah, good times....

pixilation

He usually buys bottles of pop, not cans. That's how I can tell the difference.

Thumper

Normies do not tense up and dread, hate, cringe at their partners touch because that means they are drinking and if that is happening they are only there to get their needs met. It is all about taking and using and nothing about giving or sharing.

Normies do not sniff the air when walking to the neighbors house with their partner wondering how strong the smell of alcohol really is. They do not try and find the furthest corner and stay there.

Normies do not set the Thanksgiving leftovers in the porch because the refrigerator is full of beer.

Normies do not have coolers of ice sitting in their basement every night.

TakingCharge999

Normies don't go "whew!now I am safe!" when getting OUT their home...

HoopNinja

Cyranoak that one hit me hard. I remember quietly laying in bed with teasr steaming out of the corners of my eyes (quietly because I did not want to wake him up-though I probably would not have-and besides he would have seen it as love for him instead of sorrow for myself and the kids and what I knew was the beginning of the end). My heart ached when I read this.

But like everyone else--when I am truly alone now in my own bed I feel completely at peace and don't have to smell the stench of the person sleeping next to me or feel compelled to get up and sleep on the couch because I just cannot take it anymore.

MovingForward

Oh, the stench of the person sleeping next to me!! OMG. This hit it for me. I will leave the room because I can't sleep for the stench. I had to open the windows in the bedroom this past weekend and my AH was asking why? We were already up and the room still smelled two hours later.

Thank you all for sharing.

MsPINKAcres

WOW - do I remember that feeling!!!!!!!!!!

so so so very grateful to not have that as a part of my life anymore - I actually LOOK Forward to driving home to PINK Acres!!!!