I jumped out of a plane on Saturday. A perfectly good, flying plane. When it reached 14,000ft I thought it was a good idea to jump.
Fall.
Drop.
Fly.
Call it what you will. I did it. And I survived.
Talk about the ultimate full-bodied salute to life. It is a feeling that words cannot do justice. It is a feeling that brings with it fear and excitement at the same time. It is a feeling like no other.
I’m having an identity crisis.
Spawned from the place in my mind where Disney stories still reign, I find myself personally identifying with both Peter Pan and Captain Hook.
Yes, these are both men. Yes, they are both fictional. And yet their greatest behaviours and beliefs transcend simply into the real, non-fictional world that we live in.
Let me clear up one thing:
I still like alcohol.
I will continue to drink alcohol.
Despite currently being on an extended hiatus from each other, alcohol is yet to return its half of our “Friends Forever” heart necklace. I take this as meaning we are still friends; friends with extraordinary benefits.
After my last post, I fear that a misconception grew as to my view of this brain-altering, confidence-boosting, make-you-dance-like-Madonna, hangover-inducing substance. … Continue Reading
Life is full of lessons.
Some more learned than others.
As my status is life teeters on the verge of being “alcoholic”, I share with you some lessons I should have really paid more attention to.
1) 21 shots for your 21st birthday is NOT a good idea. Taking a shot every time someone wishes you a happy 21st birthday, is also NOT a good idea. Hedge diving, the inability to walk and public displays of affection (with strangers) will generally ensue.
2) Stealing the 2L bottle of Belvedere Vodka from the bar like a ninja is not as cool as you think. Drinking from that bottle like it was water is really stupid. Waking up in a strange hotel room, fully clothed (bag and shoes still attached to my body), to the sounds of a strange little mexican man playing a ukelele and some other strangers watching mexican cartoons, with NO clue of where your friends are; is probably how your night will end.
3) Going from sober to drunk in less than an hour, stealing people’s shoes, throwing glasses of water at strangers, sitting of the bathroom floor to take of your shoes and tights for no particular reason other than to put them back on, passing out in certain VIP booths, being kicked out and mouthing off to security guards are all reasons why someone should recieve a three month ban from that particular nightclub. A great way to end my 22nd birthday.
Hi. My name is Emily Yeo. I am 22 years old. I study Business and Creative Industries at QUT. I am in my final semester. I am supposed to be growing up. Instead, I am a bartender at the Monastery.
My job is alcohol. I live it, breathe it, and more often than not, drink it. I have been working in hospitality for three years. People’s reactions to alcohol or other various substances, no longer faze me. Where I work, we love our drink. Cointreau, tequila, makers mark and vodka apples are the bar favourites. No surprise to most. It’s a fun job. We rock at it. We pump out “piss” like there’s no tomorrow. Such good work deserves a pick me up.
In this culture passing out after a night of drinking is laughed at. Being hung over for the entire next day comes with the territory. Not remembering any of the previous night is cheered upon. In my job I am surrounded by these thoughts; this deep unfaltering belief that life is intertwined with alcohol.
I am a long standing member of this culture club. For years I have pledged my allegiance to the bottle and have been a full advocate for its misguided beliefs.
Or at least I was.
One month of sobriety for “Febfast”, spurred me on to do another two. Slowly, I am being drawn over to sobriety’s dark side and I fear my platinum membership status in that alcoholic culture may soon be revoked. I will use this blog as an explanation to those in charge; those who are yet to understand my reasons for doing this. I will use this blog to show them that I still deserve to be a part of their club; I can still be a member and not drink.
So why did I do this?
It was in the face of a three month nightclub ban, and one hell of a hangover, that I began to realise what lay at the root of our social construct. It was as I hung my head in shame at my own rancidness that I began see alcohol as not just a social lubricant, but more so a social glue. It holds people together; without it, people can find it hard to stick.
As a bartender, it is perfectly excusable that we would drink and drink and be merry. However, despite my avid protesting against it, time has come for me to graduate and begin my life as a grown up. Boring? Most probably. Scary? Hell yes. Alcohol will no longer be my glue. I might actually have to talk to people… real words… not my usual alcohol-fuelled smack.
And so, of all the people in the world to take on a drinking ban, I, Emily Yeo, Mono bartender and deep lover of alcohol, have decided to say no to booze for three months. The things I have learnt in my first month, only make me curious to see what I will learn in the next two. Can such a deep, engrained cultural value be shifted towards a more healthy view of alcohol? Can willpower and determination win over such an unwavering temptation? Can society learn that the only glue they really need is CLAG??
Recent Comments