Hi, My name is Shannon and I like to drink

I like to drink. Not Twelve Step drinking, but I like a beer or wine with my meal once in a while or I like to just sit in peace and let the alcohol do the rest. I miss being able to come home, go to the kitchen, and know that there is an ice cold Miller Light not only waiting for me but there’s a frosty mug in the freezer that says “Put Miller in here, he’ll be happier and you will too”

But these days to have alcohol in my home is…well almost more trouble than it’s worth. Let me give you the bullet points:

#1: All alcohol is sold in town, in stores where people I know work or people I know shop, these people I know are not usually people that you want knowing your business if you get the point. But, if discreet and there happens to be no one around that observant and talkative, then it’s a go.

#2: The transportation of the booze goes as follows: if I do not have a backpack that can efficiently conceal the booze then Game Over. Any other plastic or paper bag can obviously be seen into or clearly shows the outline of its contents, and gives your position away to Charlie. Also, the amount of booze effects the efficiency of getting it home, depending on means of transport; for example a six pack can become a heavy burden to bare if you have an hour’s bike ride ahead of you. (We’re not talking about the leisure ride to Broadripple either; I’m sweating from writing about this bike ride).

#3: I bet you’re thinking once you get the booze back to the sanctuary that is your home that all is well and clear. It’s a game of chance, the one night out of a thousand that you decide to bring two beers into your home could be the one night that any neighbor, preacher, or student decides to knock on your door and happens to smell, see, or some how magically feel the presence of ‘drink’ in your home; no one who I can say “Hey sit down and have a snort!”

#4: Finally there’s disposal, probably the easiest but still just as much of an annoyance. I have to burn my garbage, and that doesn’t work with glass or cans really, and if there are remains then I risk the discovery of my boozing. So I can truck it back into town and throw it in a bin somewhere and I’m done.

Those are the steps give or take, and by the time it’s over, then I really do need a drink from the hassle of getting 2 beers to enjoy in the comfort of my own home. I don’t just miss the alcohol luxuries that I once had, I miss what I enjoyed it with…a comfortable couch to stretch out on, Channel surfing, all the ‘down time’ things that can be enjoyed with the end of day drink. Obviously it’s not the same these days, from how I get alcohol to how I enjoy it sitting in a plastic chair with windows covered and lights off.

This isn’t a horrible way to live, women all over the world are accustomed to this, but it certainly makes me grateful that I don’t have to live like this forever. I will have my freedoms of purchasing and consuming alcohol freely again. I will once again have a liquor cabinet in my house, hell I’ll have a liquor room simply because it will please me and likely anyone that happens to stop by…just not here.