The stupidity burns sometimes
For those of you who know me, drunken behavior and alcoholism is a very big trigger for me. I have alocholics on both sides of my family. So to read a comment like one I read on metaquotes today makes my blood absolutely boil. The gist of the comment was 'if you wouldn't turn your back on a a diabetic who wasn't taking care of themselves why would you on an alcoholic who wasn't staying off the juice?
My family has alcoholics going back several generations, it has a diabetic who didn't take care of himself. What happened when the diabetic didn't take care of himself was he died. From complications of diabetes. What the overarching affects of that was I didn't get to know my Grampa and my Dad lost his Dad.
The overarching affects of alcoholism? On the one side of my family? My Mom's Dad was an alcoholic. This has lead to an utter lack of self-esteem on my mom's older sister's part with regards to herself at all and especially around men. Her ex-husband walked all over her, her kids walk all over her now. She's dating a man that has told her she's not good enough for him and she pretty much believes him.
I grew up knowing how much alcoholism affects folks, it's a personal trigger of mine. My mom has a polite fit at my Dad for drinking more than three beers. And not-so-polite sometimes too. She also was a big influence on me NOT drinking until I turned twenty one. My brother waited until he was twenty and eleven months. Neither of us drink heavily as far as I know. Mom also never finished college because she was messed up, and she moved three thousand miles away to get out of that situation.
My younger aunt is a recovering alcoholic. She's gotten three DUI's stayed in a loveless relationship for the better part of thirty years because that's all she 'deserved'. She's spend about probably a year in prison at two different stays because of alcohol related incidences. Once she shot the ceiling while arguing with her then-husband, one was her third DUI. She was not at my Grandma's bedside when she passed on because she was not allowed to leave the state. She had to get special dispensation to attend the funeral. She's no longer got a driver's license and has to admit to felonies when she applies for a job. Mom and Grandma would lie to her when they were having their yearly visit, so she wouldn't feel bad about the fact she wasn't invited because neither of them could handle being around another alcoholic in person. My mom would also not talk to her when she was drunk, for the same reason.
My Grandfather who was the first alcoholic, never met any of his Grandchildren. He never talked to my older Aunt again. He went blind due to strokes from the alcoholism. It took m mom a decade to eve send him a letter and then we only talked on Christmas and Easter.
So please, NEVER compare alcoholism to any other disease that can be easily regulated.
My family has alcoholics going back several generations, it has a diabetic who didn't take care of himself. What happened when the diabetic didn't take care of himself was he died. From complications of diabetes. What the overarching affects of that was I didn't get to know my Grampa and my Dad lost his Dad.
The overarching affects of alcoholism? On the one side of my family? My Mom's Dad was an alcoholic. This has lead to an utter lack of self-esteem on my mom's older sister's part with regards to herself at all and especially around men. Her ex-husband walked all over her, her kids walk all over her now. She's dating a man that has told her she's not good enough for him and she pretty much believes him.
I grew up knowing how much alcoholism affects folks, it's a personal trigger of mine. My mom has a polite fit at my Dad for drinking more than three beers. And not-so-polite sometimes too. She also was a big influence on me NOT drinking until I turned twenty one. My brother waited until he was twenty and eleven months. Neither of us drink heavily as far as I know. Mom also never finished college because she was messed up, and she moved three thousand miles away to get out of that situation.
My younger aunt is a recovering alcoholic. She's gotten three DUI's stayed in a loveless relationship for the better part of thirty years because that's all she 'deserved'. She's spend about probably a year in prison at two different stays because of alcohol related incidences. Once she shot the ceiling while arguing with her then-husband, one was her third DUI. She was not at my Grandma's bedside when she passed on because she was not allowed to leave the state. She had to get special dispensation to attend the funeral. She's no longer got a driver's license and has to admit to felonies when she applies for a job. Mom and Grandma would lie to her when they were having their yearly visit, so she wouldn't feel bad about the fact she wasn't invited because neither of them could handle being around another alcoholic in person. My mom would also not talk to her when she was drunk, for the same reason.
My Grandfather who was the first alcoholic, never met any of his Grandchildren. He never talked to my older Aunt again. He went blind due to strokes from the alcoholism. It took m mom a decade to eve send him a letter and then we only talked on Christmas and Easter.
So please, NEVER compare alcoholism to any other disease that can be easily regulated.