You Are Not Exempt From Alcoholism
I don't care how white your picket fence is.
A MESSAGE FROM LE BOYALE
YOU ARE NOT EXEMPT
ON QUITTING ALCOHOL
I was speaking to an old friend this week and she was telling me a sad story about a girl we grew up with. This girl—who was from a good family, was absolutely gorgeous, smart and funny—is now heading into rehab for the 7th time.
Apparently she has become a chronic alcoholic and her life has completely fallen apart. I would never have picked her as someone who’d become an alcoholic, but I wasn’t surprised. I’m never surprised anymore.
I used to have a picture in my head of the stereotypical alcoholic. Ya know, someone from a low socioeconomic background, a bit rough around the edges, loves to fight, swears a lot. Someone like me. I grew up surrounded by drinkers just like this. They were all this type. I didn’t think alcohol affected other types.
I had friends from all different backgrounds and I would spend time with their families. There was never a lack of drinking on these occasions but their behavior was very different. It never seemed as sinister. It was as if these happy shiny families were exempt from the consequences of alcohol in some way.
As I grew older and I began to see the damage alcohol could do to even the most well put together families, I realized no one is exempt. It wasn’t that these people didn’t have problems with alcohol, it was that the problems manifested themselves in different ways. Maybe instead of violence they would use silence. Or they would emotionally disconnect. Or even excommunicate. The alcohol was still tearing these people apart, but in a different and perhaps more insidious way.
So now I’m never surprised when I hear that alcohol has captured a new avatar because I know that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, you are not exempt.
I’m interested to know: what kind of family are you from and what consequences of alcohol have you witnessed within it? Just respond to this email. I might publish them anonymously if I think we can all learn something.
NEW ON THE PATREON
Boyle gets toey for some of that sweet, sweet nicotine as he answers this week’s question from Russell DeSoto:
"Are you honest with how many cigarettes you smoke? Are you full on addicted?"
Enjoy.
CHECK OUT HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE POD
Boyle goes out with his wife and some good friends while they’re visiting Tasmania, and reflects on how fucking boring he’s become without alcohol. As he watches everyone get progressively more drunk, he realizes how annoying drunks actually are.
Oh and at this stage he’s on a pack a day of cigarettes to cope with it all.
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Well you have struck a cord my friend! I’ll email you once I can put it into words.
White picket fence heroin addict. You know my story but for those who don’t I went to private all boys high school. Trust me, there were just as many addicts and alcoholics. The families had access to more resources and bigger houses so they could fly under the radar. I went on to a prestigious private university in the states. High paying white collar job. Prestigious graduate school, wife and baby. All the while, I became a junkie. I had bad psychiatrists and figured out the dark web. I never did drugs with other people in the end and didn’t have your typical “dealer” (doctors and mail man were my dealers). So I’ve seen both sides of the coin, I have bought smack from homeless people and ms-13 gang members in a pinch. An addict is an addict is an addict. No race, socioeconomic class, gender or who you fuck matters.