SUNDAY 18TH DECEMBER 2022
Finally, after a full-on working weekend, then a day to clear my desk, I have come to the end of a full-on, trying, dramatic and utterly exhausting working year. My New Year’s resolution is, most definitely, to sort out my work-life balance because I so do not want to have another year like the one I’ve just had. On the plus side, as is currently the way, my busy week was not alleviated by any early festive drinks and, consequently, it was not hampered by even the merest hint of a hangover. Always looking to the positive!
MY WHY
December is pretty much synonymous with Party Season, is it not? I haven’t actually had a Christmas night out in years and, I have to say, I don’t miss them. These days, I can’t think of much worse but that wasn’t always the case. There was a time when my job entailed, not just our own office party, but the obligation to attend a whole lot of other parties organised by the hotel industry. Free food and copious amounts of free booze, what was not to like? Looking back, I’m in awe at how hard I managed to party mid-week and still go to work the next day – but I was young…… I would pinpoint the day of our office Christmas party in 1997 as being the day that, if William Porter’s theory is to be believed, I became doomed to forever struggle with alcohol. I first listed to Alcohol Explained on Audio during my 2020 dry spell as I endeavoured to find more and more reasons to back up my commitment to not drinking. There is a lot of good stuff in there but the bit that stuck out, and which I listened to over and over again, was his assertion that (roughly, I’m not quoting, just reiterating the gist of what I’ve retained), once a person has gone far enough down the road that they feel the need to take a break from alcohol, they will never be able to go back to drinking “like a normal person”. The reason, is because they have already learned something that they cannot unlearn: Alcohol alleviates the unpleasant symptoms caused by alcohol itself. The idea of having a Hair of the Dog is quite common in our society and it’s something that I’d never really given any thought to and I imagine the majority of people don’t overthink it either. However, when I listened to that book I knew straight away when I first realised that alcohol can indeed relieve the symptoms created by alcohol. I had been out the night before the office party – quelle surprise! – and was not really feeling too enthused about the full day of drinking that loomed ahead until my boss poured us all some champagne. Once the bubbles took effect, all semblance of a hangover disappeared and I was ready to go. That year, after spending Christmas Eve in the pub, as usual, I was confident that I would get over my hangover by introducing bubbly to Christmas breakfast ……. and it worked. From then on, it became my mantra – bubbles would provide the cure if more drinking were required the day after a heavy night. Now, I know that I learned that alcohol can alleviate the symptoms caused by alcohol itself back then and I know that I have since used that knowledge, sometimes intentionally, sometimes subconsciously, but I’m not sure I buy into the idea that I am doomed because of it. I guess time will tell.
Theme Tune: Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine