Been thinking...(surprise surprise)

During the drive home from work last Saturday nite/early Sunday morning, my work mate and I (we car-pooled) were talking and the subject of alcohol came up. I don't think that it comes as a surprise that chefs are generally placed in the same category as alcoholics, in fact it is rather common.

I knew going into this industry that alcohol played a HUGE part in the rise and fall of a chef. I also knew full well that if I didn't make some serious choices and put certain boundaries in place as well as ensure that I surrounded myself with accountability relationships that I'd run the risk of following in the footsteps of many EX-great chefs. (These were footsteps I didn't want to follow).

Some of these choices, boundaries and relationships included:
• No consumption of alcohol is to take place if I have to get behind the wheel afterwards, a great excuse for not drinking at the end of the nite after work. See next point…
• Upon returning home, no consumption of alcohol is to take place as a regular part of winding down at the end of a working nite. This is normally where the problem starts, alcohol is used to help with getting to sleep so you actually get some sleep before starting another LONG day
• Alcohol is consumed as a once off/occasionally for pleasure, NOT to get drunk on
• Telling close friends of the boundaries put in place so that the chances of me slipping up are highly unlikely. I have a real fear of seeing the disappointment that could possibly be written all over their faces if they ask and I have to tell that I stuffed up
• Sometimes the choice not to drink is a sacrifice. Drinking is a social thing to do and it’s something often done at the end of the nite while winding down with the rest of the brigade and by not drinking, it is considered uncool. This often leads to being left out and not being invited to events.

So back to the conversation that I was having that nite...as we talked the topic of drinking as being a sociable thing and a kind of "bonding session" came up. My work mate was of the opinion that he felt pressured into drinking as a way of building a relationship and as a way of being sociable. He felt that if he started to say no that he'd start to feel isolated and thought of differently. There was also a notion of "I have done this all my life and why not? I don't see anything wrong with driving home after having numerous bottles of beers".

I kinda tried to explain to him where I stood on this subject, without offending him. It wasn't so much to get him to change, although obviously that would be ideal, but it was more to try and get him to take a look at this issue from my point of view, to get him thinking. I don't know if it fell on deaf ears but it sure felt like it.

This is an issue that I will continuously wrestle with. Not that I see myself going down the route of hitting the piss or getting into alcohol related problems but more so the social aspect of alcohol and standing by the tough boundaries I have set up for myself and what it means for me to have to sacrifice certain relationships for self preservation.