Alcohol and Smoking
Without Prejudice
I watched a show last night, the Shitsville Express. It told of what impact alcohol is having on the Australian Population, right now, as we are. The drinking culture sadly, has gone hand in hand with a new rise in violence. 50,000 more serious assaults happen to Aussies than back in 1996 and seems to be getting worse.
And one of the conclusions was the question, what is wrong with us, the society, that creates this.
I wish that the devoted people that spend so much money and time investing in shunting the last few smokers out into the middle of the Pacific turned their attention now to alcohol. I heard years ago when my Rebel Yell child was going out with a hapless junkie, that drugs funnily enough do not split up relationships as much as alcohol does. Weird, huh ?
Not so weird when you consider that alcohol is also a drug, is readily available, costs little and can make people violent. The term for alcoholics at Al Anon is " the back walking away. ", as that is all you see, that back, walking away. It changes people, it can make them louder, more confident ( Dutch Courage ) and in 50 percent of cases can lead to violence.
The violent part was what The Shitsville Express wanted to showcase more than anything. There were glassings, serious assaults, stabbings, blood, gore, sexual assaults on women. In Australia we have a drinking culture. We love a beer on a hot day, a nice cold beer. We love.our Bundy and Rums, Bacardi and cokes, our cleanskin wines, by the bottle or the box. Alcohol is cheap and cheerful, at first. But too much and it becomes a depressant.
Then the tables for drinkers can turn and turn rapidly, they are not aware of how bad things can get as they are closeted in a state of euphoria. How many of us have done things we regret, fired up on alcohol ? I sure have. So others must have too. They say half the relationships in the world would not have happened without alcohol. But how many of those relationships last in the next day of an ugly hangover ?
Hospitals are overloaded on Friday and Saturday nights with the effects on people of alcohol. One Hospital had ten men on stretchers lined up in the hall, one Saturday night, all affected by alcohol and all sporting one injury or another. Think of your Grand Mother having a heart attack or stroke at home and having to wait hours for an ambulance because some young dude decided to go out and get "Slaughtered" and is drunk, injured and screaming in agony.
It's a culture now for certain young men to go out to drink and look forward to a fight, not to have just a good time but to hurt someone else, to get embroiled in a punch on, a bashing, get hurt themselves, the Biff is back and in a big way. For a lot of young men, now it's not enough to just get shit faced.
The reason we like to get "Shit Faced" is that inherent in every human being is a desire to alter reality. It's a need, a desire, to control our environment and if we can alter reality we then think we are in charge. The easiest cheapest way is to drink. Natives in the furthest reaches of the remotest places on earth will mix a fermented drink and dance, make love, and celebrate. We, who think we are so civilised, do the same.
I have been guilty and shameless of all of the above and am no better than anyone else. I love a drink, a champagne on Cup Day, a beer, a wine, a bottle or two and then dance like a loon. And think I am terrific. Until the next day, and now I am older, the day after that. I find, for me, anyway, I am allergic to it. I can vomit for Australia and used to, with the nasty banging headache to go hand in hand with the perking up. And hated it, the hangover part until I finally forced myself to stop.
Nothing bad ever happened, there was no great ah ha moment I just became tired of being sick for two days at a time. So I stopped drinking all together. It was easy. My parents were tee totallers, none of my vast amount of siblings drink, so it was never in my genetic makeup to drink, but I liked the " Feeling" of being out of control. Simple as that. So too when I smoked. The " rush" of having a smoke soothed my nerves, or so I thought.
When I was smoking, my Sister remarked in my defence ( my siblings never smoked either) that no one went out on the road and drove and killed someone, after having one smoke too many, but plenty of drinkers did. I gave up alcohol when big chunks of my memory went missing, just disappeared into the ether. I gave up smoking when they impacted on my financial status. I realised I was spending upwards of a hundred dollars a week on things that were doing me harm.
Giving up wasnt easy but patches helped for the first month and then I was able to go cold turkey. I don't think giving up alcohol is easy for the heavy drinker and an alcoholic would have to be hospitalised to dry out. I know, as I lived with one for ten years. He was always either going up or coming down and only turned violent once in ten years. He was a great guy, a funny, intelligent, witty man and a naughty little boy when he drank. He had issues and as most people with issues they remained locked in his childhood.
He never went out with the intention of hurting someone, he went out with the intention of being a witty raconteur, a teller of funny stories, a change from a quiet refined person into a roaringly outgoing alter ego. He liked drinking and we split when he told me he had tried everything to stop drinking and wished to continue. You can't hold a man back from his fate. It was impacting on me, so I let him go.and he, me.
And he married last year. He was never, ever going to marry he told me, although we were engaged for ten years. He was never going to marry or have kids as he said he had enough trouble being responsible for himself. Just himself, no point in adding kids to the mix.
I did think I was pregnant once, and funnily enough he was quite excited by the idea. But it was not to be and he went back to his no kids policy.
He was happy to declare this from a young man in his 20's. I hope he does decide to have kids, one day, as I love kids and I know the joy they bring. Yes, they bring heartache too, but just as I always thought of him as just another kid, (quietly) and said to him often, about him and his drinking habits,
"The going up was worth the coming down " *
Love Janette x
*, Taken from The Prophet, Kris Kristofferson.
I watched a show last night, the Shitsville Express. It told of what impact alcohol is having on the Australian Population, right now, as we are. The drinking culture sadly, has gone hand in hand with a new rise in violence. 50,000 more serious assaults happen to Aussies than back in 1996 and seems to be getting worse.
And one of the conclusions was the question, what is wrong with us, the society, that creates this.
I wish that the devoted people that spend so much money and time investing in shunting the last few smokers out into the middle of the Pacific turned their attention now to alcohol. I heard years ago when my Rebel Yell child was going out with a hapless junkie, that drugs funnily enough do not split up relationships as much as alcohol does. Weird, huh ?
Not so weird when you consider that alcohol is also a drug, is readily available, costs little and can make people violent. The term for alcoholics at Al Anon is " the back walking away. ", as that is all you see, that back, walking away. It changes people, it can make them louder, more confident ( Dutch Courage ) and in 50 percent of cases can lead to violence.
The violent part was what The Shitsville Express wanted to showcase more than anything. There were glassings, serious assaults, stabbings, blood, gore, sexual assaults on women. In Australia we have a drinking culture. We love a beer on a hot day, a nice cold beer. We love.our Bundy and Rums, Bacardi and cokes, our cleanskin wines, by the bottle or the box. Alcohol is cheap and cheerful, at first. But too much and it becomes a depressant.
Then the tables for drinkers can turn and turn rapidly, they are not aware of how bad things can get as they are closeted in a state of euphoria. How many of us have done things we regret, fired up on alcohol ? I sure have. So others must have too. They say half the relationships in the world would not have happened without alcohol. But how many of those relationships last in the next day of an ugly hangover ?
Hospitals are overloaded on Friday and Saturday nights with the effects on people of alcohol. One Hospital had ten men on stretchers lined up in the hall, one Saturday night, all affected by alcohol and all sporting one injury or another. Think of your Grand Mother having a heart attack or stroke at home and having to wait hours for an ambulance because some young dude decided to go out and get "Slaughtered" and is drunk, injured and screaming in agony.
It's a culture now for certain young men to go out to drink and look forward to a fight, not to have just a good time but to hurt someone else, to get embroiled in a punch on, a bashing, get hurt themselves, the Biff is back and in a big way. For a lot of young men, now it's not enough to just get shit faced.
The reason we like to get "Shit Faced" is that inherent in every human being is a desire to alter reality. It's a need, a desire, to control our environment and if we can alter reality we then think we are in charge. The easiest cheapest way is to drink. Natives in the furthest reaches of the remotest places on earth will mix a fermented drink and dance, make love, and celebrate. We, who think we are so civilised, do the same.
I have been guilty and shameless of all of the above and am no better than anyone else. I love a drink, a champagne on Cup Day, a beer, a wine, a bottle or two and then dance like a loon. And think I am terrific. Until the next day, and now I am older, the day after that. I find, for me, anyway, I am allergic to it. I can vomit for Australia and used to, with the nasty banging headache to go hand in hand with the perking up. And hated it, the hangover part until I finally forced myself to stop.
Nothing bad ever happened, there was no great ah ha moment I just became tired of being sick for two days at a time. So I stopped drinking all together. It was easy. My parents were tee totallers, none of my vast amount of siblings drink, so it was never in my genetic makeup to drink, but I liked the " Feeling" of being out of control. Simple as that. So too when I smoked. The " rush" of having a smoke soothed my nerves, or so I thought.
When I was smoking, my Sister remarked in my defence ( my siblings never smoked either) that no one went out on the road and drove and killed someone, after having one smoke too many, but plenty of drinkers did. I gave up alcohol when big chunks of my memory went missing, just disappeared into the ether. I gave up smoking when they impacted on my financial status. I realised I was spending upwards of a hundred dollars a week on things that were doing me harm.
Giving up wasnt easy but patches helped for the first month and then I was able to go cold turkey. I don't think giving up alcohol is easy for the heavy drinker and an alcoholic would have to be hospitalised to dry out. I know, as I lived with one for ten years. He was always either going up or coming down and only turned violent once in ten years. He was a great guy, a funny, intelligent, witty man and a naughty little boy when he drank. He had issues and as most people with issues they remained locked in his childhood.
He never went out with the intention of hurting someone, he went out with the intention of being a witty raconteur, a teller of funny stories, a change from a quiet refined person into a roaringly outgoing alter ego. He liked drinking and we split when he told me he had tried everything to stop drinking and wished to continue. You can't hold a man back from his fate. It was impacting on me, so I let him go.and he, me.
And he married last year. He was never, ever going to marry he told me, although we were engaged for ten years. He was never going to marry or have kids as he said he had enough trouble being responsible for himself. Just himself, no point in adding kids to the mix.
I did think I was pregnant once, and funnily enough he was quite excited by the idea. But it was not to be and he went back to his no kids policy.
He was happy to declare this from a young man in his 20's. I hope he does decide to have kids, one day, as I love kids and I know the joy they bring. Yes, they bring heartache too, but just as I always thought of him as just another kid, (quietly) and said to him often, about him and his drinking habits,
"The going up was worth the coming down " *
Love Janette x
*, Taken from The Prophet, Kris Kristofferson.
