Living Proof

Did you ever wonder about people's "bad habits" and why they do what they do? Some people smoke, some people drink, some people do both and others head to the bigger stuff to fulfill their "highs". I remember when I used to smoke two packs a day as a teenager. Addictions start at a very young age, especially today. You'd think a teenager wouldn't have a care in the world: no bills to pay, no steady job or health problems from aging -- just school and it's trivial little teenage dramas. But there's much more pain involved: lack of acceptance, low self-esteem, stressors from flunking, and of course, being bullied. I had all of those "problems" that caused me to not only smoke, but drink heavily as a kid. Health class taught us that smoking was a stimulant, but every single time I took a drag of my cigarette, it relieved my anxiety somehow. With each puff, my problems seemed smaller. And not that it got me "high" --- there was ...

We don’t frequent bars as much as we used to, but Saturday night had us out and about searching for a coupla’ stools and some tater’ juice to make us feel good and look better. The one bar that we trekked off to used to be my old stomping ground. It’s an Irish pub long time owned by, of course, an Irish man who has since passed away and given ownership to his son who now runs the business. This place is very small, but it’s the type of place----okay ----‘where everybody knows your name’. It is male dominated but by hillbilly-ish gentlemen who still value and treat women like damsels in distress – even if they’re not in distress. I even recall a time when I needed a coupla’ burly men to help lift a huge king size bed into an old apartment on the second level. I told my friend to gussy it up and show some cleavage---we’re heading into the Irish pub to recruit a few good men. …and we did. It worked like a charm. (Thank God for my friend’s cleavage.) So it’s Saturday night and Madelene a...