Once Upon a Time in My Drunken State of Mind
Updated: Sep 7, 2020
I am a late bloomer. I was kind of obedient when I was in high school and college. No bars, no drinking, no boyfriends. I felt that it was a bit iniquitous if I did those and besides, my father was strict when it came to drinks and boys.
I had my first taste of beer when I was already in college. I was with my cousins and my siblings on the beach and it was mixed with soda. I didn’t understand then why people love the taste of beer. For me, it tasted acrid and I didn’t enjoy drinking it. I often wondered why people love to drink with their buddies. But sometimes, first impressions don’t last and let me tell you why.
I had my first taste of liquor when I was in my late 20s. I was staying overnight on the beach (why is it always on the beach?) with some work friends when one of them mixed iced tea with rum. I was quite hesitant to try but well, peer pressure and out of curiosity, I took a sip and I didn’t realize I had a little bit much of it. I kind of liked it and in the next few days, I was in the hospital. Hahaha! It’s not because of the alcohol content that I swallowed. I was taking medication for a medical condition at that time and I think it was the medicine and the concoction that made me more ill. So, I took a step back from even one glass of alcohol after that incident.
But later on, I met friends who showed me the other side of fun. Wherever we went and whatever we did, drinking was always a part of the agenda. I learned how to get drunk, puke my heart out and get a hangover. And you know what is amazing? Some of them don’t get drunk at all. So, I tried to beat them at it. And every time I did, I would fail.
Imagine going home drunk and throwing up at 4:30 in the morning and had to wake up 2 hours later to go to work. I didn’t expect I could experience that.
There was one time I was out with my drinking buddies drinking tequila and finishing it with Red Horse, a strong, high alcohol beer when suddenly, I had the urge to let it all out. I ended up puking in the store’s rest room. The guard was asking my friends, “What happened? Is she calling a crow now?” You may be wondering why he asked that. It’s because when you vomit, you tend to make a sound that goes like this, “Uwak! Uwak!” And uwak is crow in our dialect. Hahaha!
It should have served a lesson for me but it didn’t. I was with my best friend and her family drinking iced tea with rum and this time, the rum content was quite a lot. I ended up talking too much and laughing so hard which made all of them enjoy my presence. While my friend’s cousin was preparing another batch of the drinks, my friend and I ate dinner. As I looked at my friend's aunt, I saw two images of her and asked my friend, “How come your aunt has a twin?” My friend had enough and told me, “That’s it! You’re not going to drink anymore tonight.” I ended up in bed. While I was trying to enter dreamland, I heard all of them looking for me, “Where is Flora?” My friend replied mockingly, “She’s already dead!” Hahaha!
I have realized that it’s not the liquor or beer that makes it fun. It’s the camaraderie, the bonding and the conversation that’s happening within the occasion. The drinks just make you bolder, more courageous and more open that makes it all more entertaining.
People always see me as the reserved one. Most of them don’t believe that I drink. If they only knew, I passed out inside a restroom for an hour.
It was the Christmas season and my friends and I decided to get together before the Christmas break. We had a lot of tequila and margarita which I learned later was already redundant since the latter is also mixed with the former. I couldn’t understand what I was feeling then. I felt that my head was going to burst and my stomach turning. My best friend and I went to the restroom, entered the cubicle together and took turns throwing up in the commode. I didn’t really know what happened after that because the next thing I knew, I woke up sitting on the floor with my back on the wall and my friend was kneeling with her head towards the bowl. We couldn’t believe an hour had passed since we went inside the stall. Our friends were all gone when we went back to our table. We found out later that they got so drunk, too and they all thought we went home ahead without telling them.
I really had a very bad hangover the morning after that. I came in late for work. That evening was our company Christmas party. I was one of the organizers. But oh well, I survived that day all right. Looking back, we always have a good laugh about it every time it comes up when I’m with the friends I was with that night.
The truth is, I am glad I have experienced this other side of fun. There’s nothing wrong getting wasted once in a while. You just have to be responsible enough not to get yourself into trouble. And of course, you must know your boundaries.
But remember this, if you are drinking and you feel the room swirling when you stand up, it means that you’re trying to break the barrier between the glass and yourself but you can't really get through it. In other words, you’re already drunk. Hahaha!
