Back in the saddle again

First of all, I would like to thank the endless stream of readers who have referred me to AA. Yes, I know that I do not have to do it alone; however, I am not exactly sure what "it" is. This past Friday night, my friends and I, eight of us in total, went out to that fabulously tacky Indian/Bangladeshi restaurant with all of the lights in the East Village. For the NYers who read my blog, you know exactly the place that I am talking about on first avenue. As this place is a BYOB place, my friend D decides to have a competition-- who can find the best wine under $10 to go with our meal. All eight of us brought wine, and having sampled each other's we all ended up drinking about a bottle each.

Yes readers, including myself. I drank Friday night. My teetoling ways were just not to be. I fell off the wagon, but quickly got back on. And no, sadly, I wasn't drunk. A bottle of wine over three hours with heavy Indian food just doesn't get me fucked up.

After dinner, we walk to a lounge in the East Village and as soon as we enter the place, all of us make a beeline for the bar. With a water in hand, I am watching the night begin. Drinks are ordered: shots are taken and vodka tonics are chugged. As I stand there, sipping my water with a twist of lime, it dawns on me.

I have as many issues with drinking as every other young professional. We all need to be somewhat intoxicated to "enjoy" an evening because, let's be real--bars and clubs suck when you are sober. We all run to the bar, plunk down our money, and yell over a loud and boisterous crowd our drink order to the person behind the counter. We all throw back shots and root each other on to finish the drink.

I am not that different than any of you. Only I have no problem acknowledging the absurdity of it all.

Maybe we are a generation of alcoholics. In addition to providing over-priced educations and teaching us esoteric subjects, maybe college schooled us in bad drinking habits? Or maybe our drinking is a by product of modern life, a way for us to reach an escape from our rigid lives: awake 8am, cereal at desk at 9:30am, work in cubicle ten hours, gym, catch tail end of Chappelle show, go to sleep, and start all over tomorrow morning. With lives like that, it is not wonder that so many of us abuse drugs and alcohol. We are prisoners of modern conveniences and are desperate to find a reprieve of the predictability.

And as for my drinking, let's just say that wine shouldn't count but, I am back on the wagon. I am actually enjoying sobriety. It is so great to wake up on a Sunday morning without a headache and take a long walk uptown, running errands and meeting up with friends. And as an added bonus, I can't tell you, how many people have been telling me how great and happy and glowy I look.