I wanted this piece to come out last week, but it’s a timeless issue, unfortunately, and I’m glad I got to write about it. Please read when you get a chance.
My dad was monster binge-drinker. He didn’t drink all the time, and when he did, he was fun for a little while in public (when he wasn’t incredibly embarrassing), but once he was home and it was time to wind down my mom, sister, and I had to watch out.
He thought that because it never interfered with his work drinking wasn’t a problem. He didn’t trust any of us if we told him how he acted after he blacked out either because he didn’t want to believe that he could act like that and hurt the people he loved.
This is too damn common. So many people don’t know their limits. Too many people binge drink until they black out and don’t even know what they did the night before.
I’ve never liked losing control of my body. I’m not a big drinker, but everyone seems to push it alcohol. I have so many close family members and friends who have struggled with alcoholism and addiction issues and it’s no wonder. There is no balance.
I know 50, 60, and even 70-year-olds who are out there acting like college kids looking for a kegger. It’s not cute once you hit your 30s. I don’t even think it’s that cute ever. I once saw a middle-class chick pee behind a dumpster because she was too drunk to walk to a bathroom. (She was surrounded by friends who were looking out for her, but it was disgusting).
There’s always this hope that, eventually, people will grow out of that behavior, and thankfully some do, but addiction doesn’t often work that way. It either kills you, or YOU have to decide to stop and fight to keep yourself in control.
So when I heard President trump talk about his brother Fred’s alcoholism and how he has never had any alcohol, I was so damn moved.
I remember when Trump was running for president in 2015 and the media was laughing at him and saying things like: He really is your drunk uncle. It was a running gag because they didn’t take him seriously as a politician yet. And then he won and proved that a sober man can not only achieve great success but also become the greatest leader in modern history.
He attributed his success to sobriety and that is something I had to highlight because I’m a fan of peace in the Middle East, lower taxes, less government control in our lives, and I’m also a fan of people who don’t cave to peer pressure or stupid/dangerous societal norms (like getting drunk) and aren’t afraid to discuss going against the grain either.
It’s so easy to drink. For teens, college kids, and adults. It’s promoted everywhere. So the rare person is someone who says, “Nah, I don’t need that to have a good time.”
We don’t celebrate that enough. Just looking up memes for this post, I found so many images and gifs that make drinking out to be a game. Sure it can be fun, but there are too many people out there who don’t have the self-control to handle it.
I hate addiction, and I’m not a fan of getting drunk, but I do imbibe in a glass of wine every once in a while, so completely avoiding drinking altogether is something I admire. It’s highly commendable.
In business, people act like you have to drink to get anywhere. There are a lot of real estate people in my family and I was once told “Well, you have to drink to get ahead in that atmosphere.”
It’s just another excuse.
Excuses don’t save your liver. Excuses don’t protect your heart or your brain. Excuses don’t stop your spouse from leaving and taking the children for their safety. Excuses don’t make up for all the time lost, or the public embarrassments that come from acting like a kid who eats candy for dinner. They also don’t help a person deal with the serious life issues they often turn to drinking to avoid.
No excuses. Over a million Americans are in Alcoholics Anonymous and if you’ve got a problem and have the guts to admit you need help, you can find a meeting near you: https://www.aa.org/find-aa
Read my latest highlighting Trump and Theo Von’s talk about alcoholism: https://www.rsbnetwork.com/opinion/op-ed-trumps-theo-von-interview-highlights-alcoholism-americas-addiction-issues/
Jessica Marie Baumgartner 