A Sober Approach to
Drinking
“What are you perusing,
Harry?” Lapius asked.
“Nothing much.
Some brochure from one of these psychiatric clinics. It’s a
questionnaire, and if you answer yes to more than one of the questions the
clinic thinks you might have a drinking problem.”
“Try me.”
“Okay. Are you
sometimes surprised at the amount of alcohol you consume in a day?”
“Yes,” Lapius answered,
hugging the brandy snifter to his chest. “Yes, particularly when I am
writing, I am shocked to discover I’ve hardly had anything to drink.”
“Has anyone ever
criticized your drinking?”
“Yes again. The
liqueur store, when I’ve been late in paying my bill. ‘If you can’t pay,
don’t drink’, they tell me.”
“Have you ever felt the
need to sneak a drink, hide bottles or mix yourself a double when serving
drinks?”
“I always mix myself a
double, Harry.”
“Are you sometimes
irritable with friends when you are drinking?”
“No, Harry, I can’t say
I am.”
“The fact is Simon, you
are always somewhat irritable. I haven’t noticed that drinking makes a
difference. Let’s go on. Do you sometimes continue to drink when
others stop?”
“Of course, Harry.
After all, if I didn’t drink I would probably eat more.”
“Have you ever tried to
kick the habit?”
“What for?”
“Have you ever fallen or
had an accident while drinking?”
“No my movements are
more fluid.”
“Have you ever needed a
drink to calm your nerves when you wake up?”
“I can’t think of a
better way to start the day.”
“Do you dread going to
social functions that don’t serve drinks?”
“Abhor is the word.”
“Have you ever found
bruises on your body you can’t explain?”
“I can’t see my body
without doing calisthenics that I am not capable of doing.”
“Do you often find
yourself drinking more than you intend to?”
“Never,” he said firmly.
That didn’t reassure me.
“Have you ever tried to
cut down on the amount and – oh the hell with it Simon. It says here that
you have a serious drinking problem.”
“I have a weight
problem, and insofar as drinking contributes to my weight I guess you could say
I had a drinking problem. It’s an interesting questionnaire, Harry, but
there are two questions I should add.”
“What are they?”
“Do you become a
different person when you drink? And are you unable to discontinue
drinking over a period of time?”
“Actually Harry I can
stop drinking whenever I want for any number of days. True, it’s giving
up one of my pleasures, but – well that’s a vile thought. Why should we
talk about giving up pleasures?”
“You know Simon, I’m
beginning to appreciate something about you. You are not an alcoholic,
but darned, if you aren’t a tippler.”
“Ridiculous,
Harry. Connoisseur, perhaps, wine taster, if you will, but nothing so
vulgar as a tippler.”
“Call it what you will.”
“Nonsense, Harry –
tippler is supposed to be opprobrious? Very well then, call me a
tippler. But I’m never drunk, just pleasantly warmed by the
alcohols. I enjoy the liqueurs as a pipe smoker savors his tobaccos.”
“You know Simon, I think
the kids are right. They say drink to us is like hash to them. Come
to think of it the way you drink you have the drug habit. Sure you may
not be an addict, but damn it, you’re sort of a sub-threshold lush. Come
to think of it I probably never saw you cold sober. I might not find you
very agreeable.”
“Why I’m almost 60 years
old,” he lied. I didn’t want to spoil his evening by reminding him that
we celebrated his sixtieth birthday three years ago. “What impudence to
compare me to those kids. This holier than thou attitude of yours is
unbearable. You drink. I’ve never seen you refuse a drink when
offered to you.”
“Come on, Simon. I
bet I don’t take more than two or three drinks a week.”
“That’s all I took when
I was your age, Harry,” he said soberly.