A Recovering Alcohol, Sugar, and Carb Addict Walks Into a Bar
I’ve never felt more like the real me
It’s 5 p.m. when I walk into the bar, and it’s already packed; people are lined up for drinks. This early? I guess not. 5 p.m. is the socially acceptable hour to begin pouring booze down your throat, after all.
I watch the bartenders pulling drafts and mixing cocktails over the heads of those waiting. For a split second, my mouth waters for a glass of wine.
I, too, used to eagerly wait for a drink this early and sometimes earlier (it’s always 5 p.m. somewhere, right?).
Instead, I push the thought of drinking aside. I knew we’d be coming here after the bookstore reading, which I’d participated in, and I knew it would be a struggle. I accepted the invitation to come to this bar with the other writers because I wanted more time to get to know them, even if it meant doing so in a place where people go to drink alcohol.
I’m okay hanging back while the crew lines up for their drinks, then follow them to a place where they can nurse their cocktails and we can chat. They can chat. I’m fine letting them do most of the talking and just being my introverted self.
That’s one of the reasons I started drinking — to turn this introvert into an extrovert. I wanted to…
