A Year Without Alcohol: The Third Temptation

I nearly started drinking again this past weekend. It was almost by chance, and showed me how much socializing is tied to alcohol.  Or rather, how it doesn't have to be.

I'm two months into an experiment with sobriety. I'm quite lax about the whole thing. I'm not so much quitting alcohol as following my curiosity to know what a year without alcohol would be like.

But I realized this past weekend, it's actually becoming quite important to me. 

Saturday was an absolute gorgeous coastal California day.  Clear blue skies. 70 degrees. A respite from the generally cloudy and rainy winter season we've been having.

It was the perfect day to get out. Take the kid to baseball practice. And...maybe...hang out with my wife and chance running into some other parents at the brewery nearby.

My dilemma is this: I don't want to confine myself to the house and drop my social life because I'm not drinking. My social life is light as it is. Without alcohol, it's been at risk of extinction.

Staying away is the safe choice. I'm a bit of a loner and I'm more than comfortable with the majority of my time spent in solitude. I don't crave alcohol and have plenty of things to keep me occupied within the confines of my home.

But out in the wild, it's game on. 

So when my wife asked, a bit sheepishly, if I wanted to go along, drop our son at practice, and stop at the brewery, I thought I'd give it a go. 

I followed my curiosity: what would happen? Would I drink? If I did, would I stop at one?

I didn't know.

I don't want not drinking to prevent me from being part of things. On my first temptation, I passed on going to my favorite local music venue.  On my second, I was obligated.

This time it was all me. I had a choice.

I also had a plan.  A risky plan that left the outcome a bit in the hands of fate.

It went something like this:

First, I'd see if they brewed any non-alcoholic recipes or stocked any in the cold case. I was genuinely curious about this. Non-alcoholic drinks are all the rage. Would my local brewery be embracing the trend, or resisting it?

Second, if they didn't carry any onsite, would they allow me to bring some in? Maybe the server would it allow it if I offered to tip her $5 to pour it in a glass for me?

Third, well, I'd have a beer. I'd break protocol and look for something at the low end of ABV. I'd see if I could have one. This wasn't ideal. It carried with it the strong risk I'd fall right back into old habits of drinking too much. 

Plus, there was the psychological aspect to it...my streak would be broken. Maybe it would be an anomaly, and I'd go right back to sober. But...my curiosity about a 2024 without alcohol?  Out the window.  

I rolled the dice anyway.

As it turns out, they didn't serve any non-alcoholic beer, to which the server confessed she was frustrated. She was visibly so. I was a bit surprised. "We get asked for it all the time," she said. "I'm trying to get the manager to carry it."

"What if I brought in my own? Could I tip you five bucks to pour it in a glass for me?"

"Yes, sure, you can bring in your own. And you don't have to tip me." She smiled. She had friendly eyes.

My wife got her pint and I told her I'd see her outside in a bit. I walked over to a grocery store nearby. 

Now, I know NAs are becoming more popular, but I was still genuinely surprised to see an entire section of the cold case stocked with maybe two dozen or more brands of alcohol free options. There were lots of choices. Lots.

And twelve packs! The universe was speaking to me. I grabbed one of those and started toward the checkout counter.

"Unleaded today, hunh?" It was the beer guy, stocking the case next to me.

We chatted for a while. I told him I was new to this. We talked options. He pointed to my twelver. "That there outsells everything else two-to-one. Easy."

Bam. I was into this.

This was fun. As silly as it might sound, I was interacting with people in a new way. There were others engaged in my journey. I liked it.

I walked back to the brewery where the server handed me a glass as I walked in. It came off as well-choreographed, like a movie. Like "La La Land." I danced (not really...to everyone else I was walking normally) to my wife in the beer garden and poured myself an ice cold, non-alcoholic IPA. 

It was delicious.

I had an absolutely fantastic time. I didn't miss the alcohol at all. In fact, all things considered, I preferred it.  Quite a bit. Like...a ton.

I got all the benefits of the normal socializing at the local watering hole without any of the negative effects of alcohol, which had been becoming more pronounced and less appealing lately.

The next morning, there was a mildly surreal feel to the air. It was dream-like. It was like waking up in two parallel dimensions.  The one I was in -- the sober, well-rested me. And also the ghost-like presence of the other me -- the over-indulging, hungover me.

I was appreciative, grateful, proud...and relieved...that I ended up in this one.

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