The narrative recounts a conversation about sobriety between friends, underscoring the challenge of revealing one's hidden struggles with drinking. The speaker's past reliance on alcohol to combat insecurity and social anxiety is illustrated, alongside an admission of hiding emotional dependence behind humorous stories. A true friend’s honesty about the negative impact of drinking fosters a deeper connection. Sobriety not only redefines social interactions but also exposes genuine friendships that endure beyond shared vices or past behaviors.
Drinking had always been practical for me. Without effort, it dissolved the self-conscious, self-critical and awkward parts of myself. It was my support for social situations and making friends, something I had struggled with since secondary school.
I hid my emotional dependence on alcohol in plain sight. I made my drinking a performance, tidying up my sometimes bizarre, sometimes dangerous behaviour into fun anecdotes.
Thank God, she said. You were a nightmare when you drank. That's the good thing about true friends: they're more likely to be honest than polite.
I thought I could delay that for as long as possible. I thought I could delay that for as long as possible.
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