Quote of the Weekend: A Drinking Man

"I have spoken to a lot of people in my life. I've read a lot of books, I've seen a lot of movies and plays, and I've heard a lot of opinions on a wide variety of topics, but no topic have I encountered more uninformed random bullshit than alcoholism. To me alcoholism is a little like L.A.: everybody thinks they've been there and they know the place because they've seen Entourage or visited Disneyland, butt only the people who have lived there for a few years really get it. Alcoholism is like this. You don't know shit about it if you drank a few too many beers in college or once blacked out or fell off a bar stool. Even people who have suffered from alcoholism for years can't comprehend it if they are still drinking, and those who have recovered from this seemingly helpless condition of mind and body seem to agree on only a few things. It is cunning. It is baffling. It is powerful, and it is patient.

People still ask me how much did I drink every day and the answer is, I don't know. I didn't keep a journal. There is no tally sheet because it wasn't fucking Weight Watchers. I drank what I had to, every day. That's how much I drank. And here's the sneaky part. It's not linear. I didn't drink every day, not until the end, I simply could never guarantee or even guess what my actions would be after only one sip of alcohol.

Understand this, if nothing else, It's not about how much you drink. It's not about the alcohol really at all. It's about what the alcohol does to the alcoholic. That's why I would never advocate temperance for those who don't need it or prohibition for those who don't want it. If I could drink like a normal person, then I would drink. Since I can't, I don't.

Here is something else that proves, to my mind, anyway, that I am an alcoholic. If I could drink alcohol like a normal person, I would not be interested in drinking alcohol. This is sometimes very difficult for nonalcoholics to understand. That's what makes them nonalcoholics."
- Craig Ferguson, American on Purpose, pp.89-90