The Downward Spiral Of Boozin'

I got a weird text on Sunday
"Can you talk?"
It was a data manager guy at the place I work. It seemed odd, since he's such a shithead irritating dope.
"Sure" I texted back.
He called.
The gist of it. He had gone out with his girlfriend and they had gotten into a fight. To which he shared with me how alcohol had been the catalyst for this misadventure.
Flashback to the day before. Friday.
I was ambling around with a St. Croix sparkling water drink around. Mocking the Millenials who were working around the office. This dude was mocking me drinking the St. Croix.
"I drank this to get me off the booze. You should try it."
"Why do you say that?"
"'Cause your a degenerate alcoholic."
To which he flinched. Yes, drunks know other drunks.
He clammed up.
Back to the story.
Well, not much more of a story other than I told the guy that everyone sees his problem. He denied it all. No one knows except me. Nope. Here's a few clues.
-Coming in late.
-Having attitude problems
-Calling in sick
-forgetting to do tasks
-doing dumb things at work
He was the checklist of everything that could go wrong with a drunk. Eventually he even passed out on the phone.
He texted me again yesterday. He had called in sick. Uh-huh.
He wanted to chat again. To which I directed him to talk to someone professional. I blasted him with "you are too weak to do this yourself" Most drunks are. I was lucky to have a great deal of hate in my heart for the people trying to kill me (booze makers). Or making booze all that wonderful. You become erratic and weird.
There was an interesting question he asked
"without drinking...what is there then?"
Great question. That is the unknown. Drinking booze shields you from the reality of great deep pain in life. The mysticism of death and lost of love. The partner in crime that doesn't objectively call you the loser that you've become.
I think for the most part, people just need a place to express themselves. If that means writing, making movies or philosophizing with friends who are equally as dimensional, I think these are the people to reach out to. I'm lucky to be surrounded by people who are okay with not partying like we're 20 again. Not that I care what others do. But it would be sad to derail oneself so early in life over something that won't leave an impression.