And now for something different

[Guest]

Friends,

Did you ever get drunk?

Has the drink ever got to you to the extent that you want to bare your soul?

Needless to say, I am now drunk, otherwise I would not be asking such a personal question.

Nevertheless, I find it hard to believe that some of you are not now cringing at the thought of what you would not like to admit, other than to friends.

To set the tone, I am celebrating my 75th birthday (April) and my wife's (June). Our 50th wedding anniversary will be later this year. My two daughters and two sons have come, minus respective husbands, wives and grandchildren, to mark the occasion, and I find that I am quite overwhelmed by the ensuing recollections of times past.

I'm sorry if this goes against the grain of supposed English reticence, but the drink impels me to get in there with both feet and put it to you.

I shall probably regret this tomorrow, but for now I delight in challenging the stereotype.

[hackneyvi]

How wonderful to be boozing with your closest family and reminiscing on - I'm assuming - your collective 300 hundred years on this good Earth together!

Happy Birthdays to you and your missus, Pat!

[Estelle]

Patrick OD:
Just a comment: you certainly hold your drink well! No typos, no confusion about wording or expression--these are characteristics I've noted in messages I've seen from others whom I knew were writing while inebriated. Congratulations on your birthday and your upcoming fiftieth anniversary!

When I was a university student in the sixties, a few girlfriends took me out to celebrate my twenty-first birthday. Men we met in the bar bought us cocktails. When it came time to make the dorm curfew, we women left to hoof it lickety-split in the cold the two or three miles back. We were weaving our way along the sidewalk of one of the city's thoroughfares when a patrol car stopped along the curb beside us. The men in blue, after sternly admonishing us, gave us a lift back to the dorm. I was never so embarrassed in my life!

[salymap]

PatrickOD Congratulations on your 75th birthday and wedding anniversary.

My typing is not so hot when I am stone cold sober. Drunk? That's between me and my memories. Sorry

[BBMmk2]

My typing not too hot, sober or otherwise! :) Had my father's 90th, a couple of years ago and still going strong(!), but that was quite a bigger affair!!

[french frank]

When you wake up, Patrick - it's congratulations from me too and thanks for sharing your happiness (and for being such a nice person)

And, um, no, not really

[Chris Newman]

Congrats, Patrick. And enjoy your tipple and your excellent company.

[PatrickOD]

Well.
Many thanks for all your good wishes, thought I wasn't really angling for those. Many thanks all the same.
In my cups I was teasing you to match my own good feelings, not to entrap you. Estelle, Im sure the embarrassment was far outweighed by the fun of the evening, and I'm delighted that you owned up to the initial question. But then, you are an American, are you not? My sly reference to English reticence has not been contradicted, but no matter. When the mischievous imp gets your tongue you say things you wouldn't normally say, and if I have crossed a line, I apologise.

[hackneyvi]

... if I have crossed a line, I apologise.

It's too late for that now. You're barred!

(I was so drunk after an office party in the 1980s that I watched Terms of Endearment when I got home and cried my eyes out. I woke up in my chair at 4 am and I'd been sick on my own feet )

[french frank]

Too much information

[Estelle]

Patrick,
Yes, I'm American, although there's a minor portion of English blood in the mix. About my one major incursion into over-indulgence, I remember very little of the evening; only the walk home! Also, I remember not feeling very well in the morning…

[hackneyvi]

Too much information

I knew I shouldn't have mentioned Terms of Endearment.

[cavatina]

Too much information

You rang...?

Moving right along, some of you might be interested to know they've invented a software system designed to prevent late-night posting while intoxicated:

SOCIAL MEDIA SOBRIETY TEST
"Nothing good happens online after 1am. And since Webroot believes in protecting you in every aspect of your life, including your social media, we've created the Social Media Sobriety Test. Put an end to the embarrassment that follows regrettable, late night posts with three easy steps."

Watch the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy1PIgjCqRM

... if I have crossed a line, I apologise.

Oh, not at all! A very interesting topic, even if most of us are too chicken to fess up. I'm just glad you gave us all the chance to congratulate you on your anniversary...may you have many more! And for what it's worth, I always assumed you were in your forties.