I discovered this by random because I was in a place with a bunch of friends but needed a break from what I call "cross talk." This annoying phenomenon is where you have a group of say, 20 people that are all sitting in the same place but there are a dozen conversations going on. For some people this is perfectly normal but for me, I am annoyed by this because I am incapable of focusing on any one of the conversations with so many going on at once.
I wandered to the back of this restaurant we were at and encountered this sign
In case you can't read it is says "To Alcohol! The cause of and solution to, all of life's problems!"
I didn't have much of a taste for alcohol when I was a teenager. It just wasn't my thing. I was quickly transitioned into a beer drinking party guy when I was in college because of the fact that this is what most people end up doing. I also attended what was considered by many to be a "party school." It definitely was that and it seems like we had almost every day of the week ear-marked for various drink specials that would happen at various bars that were always in the same downtown area that was conveniently within walking distance of the campus and most of the off-campus student housing.
I became a regular drinker during these times and when I think about it, it is quite remarkable that I ever graduated, let alone in the top 10% of my class. I became very familiar with hangovers during that time of my life and I am not so proud to say that this feeling is something that I have more mornings than not every day of the week to this day.
However, I managed to make my consumption, for the most part, a manageable part of my existence and it has never destroyed anything as far as my potential for success is concerned.
Just like the sign says, alcohol is the solution to all of life's problems and while that is meant as a joke it is kind of true. When I think about my own life, almost every GOOD thing that has ever happened in my life happened during some sort of drinking session. I got information about various jobs that changed my life, I met every girl I ever dated, and a vast majority of my life-long friends were all encountered during drinking sessions.
The successful businesses that I had in Thailand for 11 years were run, for the most part, by a guy (me) that was at least buzzing from beer almost all the time. I'm not saying that this is a good idea and it probably could have been managed better if i stayed off the sauce but the booze helped me to tolerate the sometimes annoying customers of which, we had quite a few.
I don't think that booze is necessarily a good thing and I don't recommend that most people attempt to live their professional lives the way that I did because I don't think it is a good idea, nor do I think that most people can pull it off. I'm not trying to give anyone any life advice here, I am just merely pointing out that booze actually did result in me meeting almost all the people I know today and in the past, and most of my business opportunities were created or discovered while I had at least a couple of drinks in me.
So thanks Homer, I believe your words are correct! I wouldn't say that I am an alcoholic because I don't NEED the stuff in order to function or anything like that. I do think I am borderline though and seeing my age, I would say there isn't much chance that I am all of a sudden going to ruin my life with what is essentially the same life-game I have been playing for 25 years.