ALCOHOLISM

 ALCOHOLISM

With the marvada drip

It's just that I get stuck

I enter the sale and I already give my taio

I take the glass and from there I leave

There I drink, there I fall

Just to load it is that I give work

      (Ochelsis Aguiar Laureano)

Since the beginning of the human adventure, alcohol has been present in our lives. To offer to the gods, in gratitude for some grace achieved, to celebrate after an incontestable victory or a social celebration... and there opened up a range of possibilities for celebrations. Among the various gods who governed humanity during its walk through this endless corner, several of them were the guardians of alcoholic beverages. So that we don't get lost in an endless list, I'll just mention Ninkasi, Sumerian goddess of beer, Sabazius, Greek god of barley and wheat... and beer, of course, Bacchus, perhaps best known for being the god of wine , and São Jorge, also linked to beer in the candomblé cult. Oh, and we cannot forget Jehovah, God of Jews and Christians, who in various situations not only encouraged but, in a way, actively participated in the consumption of fermented drink. We can't forget that Jesus' first miracle was turning water into... wine!

We have in our collective thinking that alcohol is a beneficial thing, which does not cause us any problems with its consumption. But we know that, in reality, this does not match what we see in our daily lives. People who are lost in the addiction of alcoholism also end up losing the direction of their social, professional and family life. Without taking into account that alcohol, in its most varied forms, is the gateway to the consumption of other harder drugs.

Even if the person does not use other drugs, alcohol is enough to strain family relationships. I know this because I myself come from a family of alcoholics, as do more than 90 percent of families in the world. As it seems harmless, this drug was offered to young children not long ago. Fortunately, this picture is changing. Slow, but it is. The big problem is that, unfortunately, the incentive to consume alcoholic beverages does not come only from the family... it is when the child passes into adolescence that the temptation becomes greater...

As I said, I come from a family of alcoholics. My father was an alcoholic. And when he drank, he completely lost his temper, becoming violent. By the way, there is one of the most detestable aspects of alcohol... the predisposition to violence. There were many times that my father, drunk, attacked my mother. Sometimes she turned against us, her children, and there were many times that I, already a teenager, "fled" to my grandparents' house, who lived in the countryside, to escape my father's alcohol-fuelled fury. And it wasn't a matter of choice... when he became violent, the only way to escape his rage was to disappear from the place...

Not to say that bad luck is silly, I also faced this problem with my children. I have four. The oldest never drank, as far as I know. However, the youngest three, from their teens until recently... well, they drank, and a lot. My better half and I have had to rescue our youngest from really inhospitable places at inappropriate times. There was a time when we just hated the weekends, because that's when we had to look far and wide for them and pray that nothing bad happened to them. Our ordeal began on Friday, when the two simply disappeared from the map. Sometimes we got lucky and found them quickly, took them home and took care of them. In others, we were overcome by tiredness and had to wait for God to protect the two brainless and lead them safely back home. Yes, it was not an easy time. Fortunately it passed... at least in part, but it passed. At least today we don't have to run after anyone because of drunkenness... although that was my specialty, until a short time before my father passed away... after all, countless times I had to rescue him from the streets, because he was so shaky that he couldn't even get home. How many times have I brought him home drunker than a skunk? And my brothers... the youngest, once had a fight with his girlfriend, got drunk and decided to go visit her... by car. I had to get on board with him and try to convince him to give me control of the vehicle... he thought he was in England, and only drove on the left! After many scares, I finally managed to take control of the vehicle and we were able to return home safely. But I went through a lot of trouble, I went through...

Of course, drunkenness also provides us with some moments of, how shall I say, relaxation?... I remember that once my father and my brother (not the younger one, the other one) were trying to figure out which of them had drunk more in the last thirty days. But they didn't want to measure in liters, but in... meters. Of course I would laugh softly so they wouldn't hear. After all, the two were beyond Baghdad...

It's 7:50 am on this beautiful and wonderful Friday, even though the sky is overcast. I have faith in God that only good things will happen that day in our lives. We are at 22ºC right now and we can reach 30ºC (yesterday we reached 35ºC, do you believe?). The sensation at that moment is of freshness, due to the relative unity of the air, but I know that this will change during the course of the day.

Stay with God and may He bless us all. May this be the most beautiful of all the Fridays we've ever lived. See you tomorrow, if He so allows... kisses...