One Drink Closer to Calm, One Step Closer to Chaos
The cat is out of the bag, the horse has left the barn, and the ship has sailed. It is pretty safe to say, on behalf of myself, and any of the 8,000 – 9,000 people arrested annually in our state for driving under the influence (a.k.a. OUI), that alcohol is a problem. And, even if not a consistent or perpetual problem – it is certainly a problem at the time of arrest. The topics of alcohol use, misuse, abuse, disorders – let’s say all bad things alcohol usually fall into the profoundly personal and private realm. Most people know someone who drinks too much, and some even know that they, themselves, overdo it. The sensitive conversations that must take place on this topic are usually among spouses, significant others, patients and providers, or very close friends.
An image that doesn’t make it to a Superbowl commercial
But the drinking behavior of others makes for good gossip. That’s because when people get drunk they are more likely to do gossipy things – like cheat, fight, way overshare, drunk text, cry, or vomit. Everyone has stories. Maybe you work with someone who can’t make it in after a Monday Night Game on a Tuesday, or annually on March 18th. Miraculously, St. Patrick gets some people to consume a lot of green beer on the 17th. Speaking only for myself – the drinking thing transcended gossip when it was headline news in January of this year. This exposure is painful, and life-changing stuff. The event would have changed me forever, even if a reporter wasn’t following me around – and yes, he still is.
There is no cowering from this one, Michael.
The first time I made the Boston Globe was 20 years ago, when I was an Assistant Principal. I worked in a high school, and one spring day, I was able to get a 17-year-old student to hand over a syringe loaded with heroin. The event made the Boston Globe, but without my name. Still, it was surreal. Plenty of articles were published in local papers over the years. All for good stuff, like adopting a nationwide drop-out prevention program, receiving so many competitive grant awards, and even opening an innovation school – all public attention getters. There was a time when I’d cut the articles out and affix them in a portfolio I kept. I was so proud of my work, and energized by it too. Cleaning stuff out of my basement, I found the portfolio. I flipped through it…twice.
Honest reporters have disappeared over the last two decades, and the media has changed. Fewer people open their doors to get the morning paper to see what’s happening. Paperboys and papergirls – perhaps paper-individuals these days are gone. People are reading less – Tik Tok and other streams are just more captivating. Most people get their news online for free – and now the only way media outlets can get money from advertisers is to get as many clicks as possible. Just like the kids out there ripping towel dispensers off walls and ingesting Tide Pods, there are editors and reporters out there like those kids, just trying to get to viral.
So far, the same reporter has written four articles about me over the past several weeks. Before the topic of my arrest, the same reporter wrote one about an employee who was thoroughly investigated for, found to have, and was terminated for mishandling a very young child. There is little more serious than a school employee acting in a way that can physically hurt a preschooler. The story – featured on the paper’s webpage has a photo of the terminated employee sitting at a picnic table with a solemn look – and a caption alleging that the termination was because of retribution. This paper charges $0.10 per month for online access. I won’t pay it – even to see what is written about me.
Chat GPT sees it like this
At times I feel like a dead horse that is still being beaten. The imagery I have on this one is a vulture on top of a still horse pecking to get inside. It is anxiety provoking stuff. The territory of real deal anxiety is traversed by more people these days than ever before. For some, it's situational – caused by exigent circumstances. For others, it is a way of life – at baseline, in a perpetual state of fear or worry. Aside from doctor-prescribed medication, wanna guess what is likely the number one short-term anxiety remedy in the US? Here are two stats for you – 1 in 5 (20%) of US adults exercise regularly, while 2 of 3 (66%) consume alcohol.
A trip to the store, restaurant, or bar temporarily, but quickly alleviates the worst anxiety. There are cheap and expensive varieties, potent or weak. At the Drink on Congress Street near the Seaport, you can seemingly get a work of art in a Martini glass. Or, you can grab an entire bottle at the liquor store right down the street for the same price as a single drink in the city. The quick result is a depressed Central Nervous System, some calming neurotransmitter stuff, followed by a carefree demeanor and a hit of dopamine, all sure to follow. And if you take in enough of it – you won’t even remember the next day.
I am like this…There has to be a better way, and I am hellbent on finding it. I keep reading that alcohol kills more people than opioids – one of many reasons the border thing is a thing. Drinking certainly breaks up families and friendships. So, I am asking myself why wine was poured into my ginger ale when I was in Kindergarten? Perhaps it was because even Jesus Christ burned one of his miracles by turning water into wine? Who knows?