"Love on the Rocks"
My best friend Anna was very upset the other day. She called me on the phone in near hysterics.
"Rachael, Graham started drinking again. Can you believe it?"
Graham is a recovering alcoholic--well, not so recovering now-- Anna used to date. Before I could tell Anna whether or not I believed that an alcoholic would start drinking again she was already onto her next point, "And the worst part is I'm not the one who drove him to drink. It was some other girl. And they had only been on like four dates. Is that not some shit?"
"Anna, I don't--"
"I mean, he obviously didn't care that much about our relationship if after it ended it didn't drive him to the bottle. And it's not like he couldn't be driven to the bottle as he is drinking again, now!"
"Anna, maybe it was the compounding of failed relationships. You know, maybe you guys didn't work out and then he tried to move on and that didn't work out and the combination of the failings led him to drink."
"That's not any better. He needs to ruin himself because he can't live without me not because he's disappointed with his interpersonal skills. God damn it! I'm haunted by this relationship every day and it doesn't cross his mind ever! He's just like 'la di da, my life is so great, and I love my alcohol. It's so great to be me, I don't ever remember dating an Anna. And one day I'm going to make a ton of money and have a wife and kids and things will be even better. I'll be able to afford top shelf liquor. It's so awesome to be me.' You know what? Next time I date someone I'm going to date someone who cares about me. This way when we break up he'll be as miserable as I am which will make me feel better."
I said, "OK." And then Anna hung up on me.
"Rachael, Graham started drinking again. Can you believe it?"
Graham is a recovering alcoholic--well, not so recovering now-- Anna used to date. Before I could tell Anna whether or not I believed that an alcoholic would start drinking again she was already onto her next point, "And the worst part is I'm not the one who drove him to drink. It was some other girl. And they had only been on like four dates. Is that not some shit?"
"Anna, I don't--"
"I mean, he obviously didn't care that much about our relationship if after it ended it didn't drive him to the bottle. And it's not like he couldn't be driven to the bottle as he is drinking again, now!"
"Anna, maybe it was the compounding of failed relationships. You know, maybe you guys didn't work out and then he tried to move on and that didn't work out and the combination of the failings led him to drink."
"That's not any better. He needs to ruin himself because he can't live without me not because he's disappointed with his interpersonal skills. God damn it! I'm haunted by this relationship every day and it doesn't cross his mind ever! He's just like 'la di da, my life is so great, and I love my alcohol. It's so great to be me, I don't ever remember dating an Anna. And one day I'm going to make a ton of money and have a wife and kids and things will be even better. I'll be able to afford top shelf liquor. It's so awesome to be me.' You know what? Next time I date someone I'm going to date someone who cares about me. This way when we break up he'll be as miserable as I am which will make me feel better."
I said, "OK." And then Anna hung up on me.
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