Been a while.

Somehow, the job is becoming a job. I have a wealth of experience. It tells me that drunks and drug addicts are pretty damn dependable. We'll say and do almost anything to keep living in our heads.

The other day I spent five hours with a 23 year old kid. He was a tough guy, a bit of a redneck and a raging drama queen. He claimed to drink 3 fifths of hard liquor a day. Then again sometimes he'd bump the number up to three half gallons a day. He said that he'd had chest pains and sharp pains in his left arm. He'd been to jail a few times. He gets in fights a lot. Everybody attacks him and he has to defend himself. He's sent guys to prison testifying against them after they tried to kidnap him. His girlfriend gets in fights a lot too. They constantly have to defend themselves.

I told him, "All that drama, that's alcoholism. Alcoholics love drama". He didn't really go for that. He just wants to be like his girlfriend. She's from "Europe". In "Europe" they appreciate fine wine. He wants to spend more time enjoying fine wine with his girlfriend. He knows how to talk to rich people. He can operate at their level because he cleans a lot of rich people's swimming pools. He owns a piece of the pool service. I'll give him this much. He's a hard worker.

I'll tell you the truth. I didn't really like him much and he's decided he likes me. I try to take a few minutes and talk to him when I see him. I know he's trying.

Did I mention the guy I went to high school with? Not really. He graduated from my high school seven or eight years after me. He was the last thing I did on a fourteen hour day, most of it spent in barely moving traffic. I picked him up at a psych ward. He'd been forcibly hospitalized after they found him wandering, drunk on a busy train track one morning.

He had a terrible girlfriend. She emptied out all of his bank accounts after he went in the hospital. He didn't think his drinking had much effect on his life. He keeps bobbing up and down in life. Owning fancy houses and living in motels with money borrowed from relatives. He wants to find the right woman. She has to be a lot younger than him. She can't object to his drinking. He meets women. He gives them control of his bank accounts. He has a few drinks and they steal from him. He doesn't understand it. He left to go to a big casino, have a few drinks and see if he couldn't meet a nice woman.

Last week was an anniversary. I haven't had a drink in 21 years. I've been single and living in this damn trailer for ten years. All things considered, it's alright.