DOSE:

40 oz

oral

Alcohol - Hard

BODY WEIGHT:

145 lb

It was a warm summer day in Vancouver and I'd finished work and had some cash in my pocket and was happy because I had a few days off work. I bought a large bottle (1.14L or 40 ounces) of J&B Whiskey, a brand I always have been particularly fond of.

I planned to go down to the beach and enjoy a sunset and bonfire with some very close friends and I managed to find myself rides there and back and therefore felt very responsible and care-free. At about 7:00pm I had a medium size plate of lasagna that left me still somewhat hungry but it was good to have food in my stomach.

8:00- My friends were supposed to have picked me up from my house twenty minutes ago and I was getting impatient, I did three shots of the whiskey and quickly felt them soak into my body and within minutes I was feeling the warm embrace of liquor. Don't get me wrong I'm not a light-weight in anyways, in fact I consider myself to be quite a heavyweight especially due to my lean frame; but I have learned to appreciate alcohol on all levels; I can notice a slight buzz even off half a beer but am by no means drunk.

8:30- My friend finally shows up almost an hour late, I didn't really mind though, I had had another two or three shots and was feeling mellow.

As he drove me down to the beach I stuck my head out the window and felt the freshest and coolest air blow over my face, I had an overwhelming sense of freedom. It was wonderful to be young and tipsy.

9:00- Down at the beach, I bought some cola to mix with my whiskey because I felt that I needed more liquids in my stomach. I actually ended up giving away most of the coke and drinking the whiskey straight.

Now interesting things start to happen... I drank rest of the bottle in an hour. My memory obviously became fragmented as a result of this. I will now go on to give my version of everything I remember after reaching the beach, and then the confirmed version which has actually been captured on video by a friend of mine...


My Version: at 9:00 was down at the beach, chilling, lighting a fire and enjoying the company of a few very intimate friends. We were laughing and telling stories and I was very social for the first half of the bottle. Then the rapid consumption of alcohol caught up with me, I remember becoming very silent and chugging a lot of whiskey very fast. Next, I'm standing over the whiskey bottle guarding it from police officers who tell me to put the fire out and throw away the bottle, I remember agreeing to both things. Next thing I know I'm walking to my friends car. Then I'm eating pizza somewhere. Then I wake up in a very familiar place, my friends basement and I feel pretty good, I have a vague hangover, but even more strangely no recollection of how I got to where I was. I calmly walked up the stairs to my friends room and threw socks at him until he woke up and I demanded a full account of last night.

My friend's version:

I confirmed this story with a few friends so I have a fairly vivid account of what happened. I also have seen a video displaying a lot of my behaviour during the night.

We were sitting at the beach and at about 930-10:00 my friends noticed I'd become very quiet, somebody picked up my bottle and asked if they could have some and I agreed but when they picked it up they said, 'OH my god, he drank it all.' It was empty.

The police arrived and very nicely asked us to put out our fire and told us that the beach wasn't very safe these days, people were using bear mace to mug people (note: I once got bear maced while drunk: not fun.) When the police asked me to throw away the bottle I argued with them and continued saying, 'the bottle's not mine, it's empty...' after a few circular arguments I finally had the good sense to pick up the bottle, which I was very obviously guarding. Then we went a pizza place, and I hugged some girls who appeared to be total strangers (I later discovered, quite awkwardly, that the girls were my a buddy's little sister and her friends... oops.). Then my friends decided quite rightly that I was too drunk to stay home by myself and needed to be watched so they put me in a car and drove me to my friends house.

While in the car I threw up out of the passenger seat window onto the side of the car and all over my arm. I also tried to open the door and get out while moving at about 70km per hour.

When me and a few friends arrived at my friends house I spent a few hours mumbling and vomitting and then passed out on the floor. My friends were kind enough to put pillows under and around me. I slept very deeply.

The video:

A few shots of us chatting on the beach, I am talkative for the first bit. Then the next clips are at the pizza place, where despite being in a public place I wander around making faces at people with glazed eyes and I continually stumble into things. I look, in short, like the village drunk. The next footage are some lovely clips of me vomitting onto the side of my friends toyota. Then some pictures of me falling into some girls. Then this was possibly the most funny clip on there. Back at my friends house I was lying on the floor, and I stood up with the intention of going to the bathroom, but I was very weak so I needed a chair to stand up, I grabbed a chair to help myself up, pulled the chair over onto myself and toppled backwards, I somehow found my feet but immediately stumbled into three bar stools and knocked them all out, still somehow on my feet I then fall into a wall and fall over. Every piece of the furniture lay on the ground with me...


Is there a moral to this story: no.

What have I learned: Whiskey is my achilles heel... I've never been so out of control with alcohol before, and I've discovered in a few experiences since then that whiskey is the only alcohol that leaves me with memory gaps.

Repercussions: my liver took some severe damage, a few days later I woke up in the middle of the night with what felt like somebody tearing shards of glass throught the right side of my torso. I have developed a respect for alcohol and my body. I haven't shown that kind of disregard to my health since, although I've been drunk since I haven't put myself into a position to repeat that recklessness.

Advice: If you feel the need to do something like I did and discover what being drunk really is, eat something before so you don't vomit your stomach up, make sure you have caring friends who will look after you while you become totally disorientated and helpless, and do not drive.

Final words: Overall I actually think of that as a good experience. I remembered none of the sickness and seemed to remember a vague sensation of wellbeing, and the video is bloody hilarious. I learned things about myself and I feel no need to go and repeat what I did ever again.

Take it easy, I hope I taught you something.

Exp Year: 2002	ExpID: 18002
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Oct 7, 2002	Views: 15,843
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Alcohol - Hard (198) : Health Problems (27), Small Group (2-9) (17)