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"How come you don't drink anymore?" A renewed acquaintance from long ago asked me the other day.
"Any more then, Who?"
"I mean any longer. How come you don't drink anything these days?"
"Drink? I drink . . . coffee, milk, tea, soda, water, fruit juices and ice cream frappe."
"I mean drink," he said, "you know Booze!"
"Oh Booze. No, I don't drink Booze anymore. I could not trust it anymore, it turned on me, Once my friend, it became my enemy."
"Maybe you just got a bad batch," he replied.
"No the sauce is the same, but I changed. I have the illness of Alcoholism and my tolerance weakened. Alcoholism does not come in bottles it comes in people."
"Sounds really confusing," he replied.
"You think you're confused. You should have seen me!! I drank for happiness and became unhappy; I drank for joy and became miserable; I drank to be outgoing and became self centered; I drank for sociability, and became argumentative and lonely . . . "
"I drank for sophistication, and became crude and obnoxious; I drank for friendship and made enemies; I drank to soften sorrow and wallowed in self pity; I drank for sleep and awakened without rest."
"I drank for strength and felt weak; I drank to prove my masculinity and it sapped my potency; I drank medicinally and got sick; I drank because I thought my job called for it and I lost my job."
"I drank for relaxation and got the shakes; I drank for confidence and became uncertain; I drank for courage and became afraid; I drank for assurance and became doubtful . . . "
"I drank to stimulate thought, and blacked out; I drank to make conversation and tied my tongue; I drank for warmth and lost my cool; I drank for coolness and lost my warmth . . . "
"I drank to feel heavenly and came to know hell; I drank to forget and became haunted; I drank for power and became powerless; I drank for freedom and became a slave; I drank to erase problems and saw the multiple; I drank to cope with life and invited death . . . or even worse."
"I drank because I had the right and everything turned out wrong!!!"
"Gosh," my friend exclaimed, "that must have taken a lot of Booze to get you in that shape!!!"
"Just one," I told him. "The first one. For me, One is to many, and a thousand is not enough."
"So that's why you do not drink anymore??"
"Yes, I have made it a rule, I Do Not Drink While I'm Sober."