My Last Dance With Johnny Walker

Summary

The author reflects on their personal journey with alcohol addiction, starting from an early age and continuing into retirement, ultimately finding sobriety with the help of a friend and Alcoholics Anonymous.

Abstract

The author shares a deeply personal narrative about their struggle with alcoholism, which began at the age of 12 with a stolen beer in California. The story unfolds through various stages of life, including a stint in the military in Italy and a career as a police officer in the USA, where heavy drinking was normalized. Despite initial denial and justifications for their drinking habits, the author eventually acknowledges the problem and transitions from beer to scotch whiskey in retirement. The turning point comes with the support of a friend named Julie and the resources provided by Alcoholics Anonymous, leading to a sober life. The author expresses regret for ever starting to drink and offers a cautionary note to those who might be in the early stages of addiction.

Opinions

The author believes that their journey into alcoholism began innocently with childhood curiosity and escalated with exposure to heavy drinking in various life stages.
They initially rationalized their drinking by distinguishing themselves from 'real' alcoholics and attributing the habit to job stress.
The author suggests that the camaraderie among police officers contributed to their excessive drinking, implying a culture of alcohol use in law enforcement.
The transition to scotch whiskey in retirement is portrayed as a significant shift in the author's drinking habits, yet it still led to dependence.
The author expresses a positive opinion about Alcoholics Anonymous, crediting it and their friend Julie for their successful recovery.
Reflecting on their sobriety, the author conveys a strong opinion that it is better to address a potential drinking problem early before it develops into a severe addiction.

Sometimes It’s Better To Dance Alone

Wondering if alcohol is a problem. The picture was imagined by the author and realized by Dall-E-3.

I had my first beer when I was 12 and living in California. I remember it was Hamms, and my buddy, Pete, and I stole one from the local supermarket. A small creek ran through our community, and it ran under one of the secondary roads. It was here, under the little bridge next to the creek, where we enjoyed our first taste of alcohol. I remember it was awful.

We didn’t finish that can of Hamm's beer, although we swore we felt ‘something’ after those few sips. Kids have wild imaginations.

That was my very first brush with alcohol, a substance that would come to have a significant effect on my life in the years to come. At the time we sipped on that beer, of course, I had no idea that this small adventure marked the beginning of a dark journey into addiction. After all, at 12 years of age, things like that only happen to ‘old’ people.

The teen years brought a few more experiments with alcohol. I come from a military family, and we traveled the world, settling for three years in beautiful Naples, Italy. Alcohol flowed freely in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius.

A return to the USA and a new job, which became a career, brought lots of booze. I was a cop, and cops drank a lot. They don’t trust anyone who isn’t a cop. This meant lots of end-of-shift drinking parties, and, were it a contest, I would win hands down. My life began revolving around beer. “When was the next beer?” became the day's question.

For years, I convinced myself that I was just a beer drinker. I didn’t drink whiskey or any of those fancy drinks; therefore, I wasn’t an alcoholic. Besides, I could stop anytime, and I did, but not for long. I reached the point where a 12-pack-a-day, five-days-a-week drinking habit became the norm, not the exception.

I knew, at some level, the drinking had gotten away from me. I blamed it on the job, and, in the early days, there might be something to that. But not now. Now, I was retired and enjoying life on my little ranch. It was there I switched to scotch whiskey. It should be a controlled substance.

I danced with Johnny Walker for years and took great pleasure in doing so, at least until the music died.

Fortunately for me, my friend Julie shepherded me through the process of removing alcohol from my life. In addition to that support, I joined AA and met some great people. I also learned a lot about drinking and addiction.

I finally quit alcohol and resumed a sober life. I had forgotten how good it felt to be free of the booze. I look back on my life and wish I had never taken that first drink. If there were a moral to this story, it would be if you think you might have a drinking problem, you probably do. Deal with it before it really gets a hold on you.

My last dance with Johnny Walker was on August 3, 2018, and I’ve not danced with anything since. I’m much the better for it.

About the Author: Professor Mike spent years in law enforcement and an almost equal number of years teaching at several universities. This makes him happy.