Monday 17 August 2009

Alcoholic or reckless fun?

Yesterday being Sunday we spent most of the day in the pub. Well that's not strictly true I suppose.

The day actually started with Mutley putting a new saddle and hand grips on the push bike we have been given. He also lowered the seat so that I can touch the floor with my toes.

The bike is a little short for me and a lot short for Mutley, but this didn't stop either of us going for a spin around the countryside, one after the other. Down by Bluegates Farm and around back through the village I peddaled like fury trying to use the gears in the appropriate places.

I had to have a rest half way around and I chose one of the handy benches on the route once used to watch point to point. I lay on the bench breathing in the fresh air and feeling the sun on my face.

It was a warm day, a very typical English summer. When I rode along by the Rec I saw the footballers warming up and realised there was going to be a footie match.

So I suggested to Mutley that we go out and sit on the grass and watch. We soon realised that we knew one of the footballers. He had previously been engaged to one of the parish councillors in the village who ran the florists.

He had in advertantly taken a fancy to her friend who ran one of the pubs. They left their partners and are now an item.

She was sat with her friend watching so we joined her. Never having been more of a fan of the florists!!

After the match, which was won by the home team 6-1, we made our way to the pub (which she use to manage) there we had a couple of pints and a sandwich and chatted to the locals.

We then left and went to one of the other two pubs in the village and sat in the garden. There we met one of our neighbours who makes us laugh out loud with his daughter.

We chatted for most of the afternoon until around 6.30pm when they left and we went to the pub closest to home for one last one, or so I thought. There we chatted about our holiday to the Landlord and observed the Landlady who is going through a new lot of chemotherapy.

They left and so did we but Mutley insisted he wasn't hungry having drunk 7 pints of cider and he wanted to go out on the bike. I didn't want him to because he was so drunk so I gave him a glass of wine.

After I had cooked a burger for both of us he insisted he wanted to go for a spin. It was now about 8.15pm so off he went, completely legless as we say, "I will go to Bluegates Farm" where the last words I heard him say.

He had his wallet in his hand so I said you don't need your wallet then! I heard some scuffling but ignored it.

After half an hour darkness fell really quickly. I suddenly realised that the bike has no lights on it.

I rang him on his mobile and he told me he was in the next village in the pub there. I asked him why he was in the pub again when we had spent the whole day there.

No answer. Then I commented to him about the lights and that it was now dark and that maybe because he was drunk he should call me when he had finished and I would pick him and the bike up.

He said I sounded like his mother.

So I put the phone down and took my bag and as I had only had one glass of wine all day I drove Roger up the village to my friends house. They were sitting watching TV.

They asked me where Mutley was and I told them he had escaped!! Abducting my bike and gone to yet another pub. (I knew he had taken his money from his wallet) I said that I was concerned at his recklessness but couldn't do anything about it.

The best option was for me to get on with my life and let him live his.

I got a text message to say he had arrived home ok and where was I. I ignored it and went home at around 10pm to find him in his pit (bed). I watched the football(soccer) on Match of the Day and then went to bed.

He was pretty cuddly but I wasn't in the mood. Maybe I couldn't control him and felt really vunerable at his recklessness and maybe I was a bit worried that he maybe an alcoholic!

My friends suggested that he was just drunk and drunk men do silly things. I might confiscate the bikes padlock key, what do you think?

2 comments:

Stephanie Faris said...

LOL. Just play dumb next time he asks for it. I think I would have been more than a little annoyed by that "mother" response. Why is it people lash out when the ones they love are just showing concern?

Unknown said...

Hello, my wife died in my arms from the effects of alcohol at the age of 43. Alcohol problems creep up on you and if you ignore the symptoms you may well be placing your life in danger. My wife's deterioration over a period of about 6 years was the stuff of nightmares. The effects on my wife’s body were awful and she became virtually unrecognizable. Finger nails and toenails just fell away. Her skin was coming away from her body and falling on to the floor she was covered in sores and I had to cover her in grease every night. Can you imagine being covered in grease and then putting your clothes over this.
Is your wife or husband or partner craving for alcohol and drinking far too much?
What a familiar tale this is. I married Marion in 1979 at that that time I was in business as an office equipment company in the United Kingdom. Marion was from a banking background and was very good with figures and seeing that we got paid on time. How lucky was I, here I have a potential partner in life who has worked for a major British Bank and who is very good at finance. WOW well lucky me and I said to her would you like to be the company secretary and she agreed.
So let’s think about this my wife has great monetary skills and she has joined my company. All sounds great so far, yes.
When my wife joined my company she soon found out that she had much more freedom than she ever dreamed of. I can remember in the first few weeks there we were on the beach soaking up the sunshine and Marion turned to me and said “if they could see me now” here I am on the beach doing nothing but relaxing while they are all in the bank working away.
My wife and I worked very well together and although many people say that working with your spouse is maybe not a good idea let me tell you that working with Marion was absolutely great and I loved every minute spent with her. This was the perfect situation we loved each other intensely and we lived for one another.
At the time that Marion and I got together I lived over the business, Yes it was a flat albeit rather small and we lived there, hmm talk about living on the job but it worked OK. This was 1989 and the business had only started in 1984 so expenses were still being kept to a minimum. It takes a while to start a business and a lot more time to make it successful as you will probably know.
Then came the business lunches at the hotel across the road, now how cool is that. Marion soon found out that she could have whatever she wanted and of course this included alcohol. Not alone were these meals at dinnertime but also after work from 6-00pm for as long as we liked and beyond midnight.
I have always taken alcohol moderately but Marion’s intake of alcohol was increasing and I did not notice this at the time. So the years passed and we purchased our house together which was a small bungalow in South East England.
As the Internet developed we found that working from home was a real possibility after all why pay for premises when you do not need them. So OK we instantly saved money and a lot of it because we could now show our products on the Internet. Sounds great so far yes.
Well no because my wife’s drinking was now being done at home and she was now drinking far more than she should. She was out of my site for long periods and was constantly asking me to bring alcoholic drinks home. At first I thought well she seems OK but after a while she was not alright as the drinking increased and the food intake stopped.
Watch for the tell tale signs and do not ignore them as I did.
A painful story.
If you want to read more you can always visit my website
http://www.alcoholicpartner.com