What were you thinking...

Someone put something in my drink...

I was sitting at a table watching young adults as they entered the bar. Their interactions were as entertaining as any play or circus I have ever attended. They were young people who were trying to find their place in the social arena. The dynamics of their interactions unfolded as the the night proceeded. Some of them seemed to shrink into the shadows and were content to just observe the activities.

As the band started their second set, some people had reached the point of no return. Many of them had loosened up and it was hard to find anyone who was shy at this point. They no longer had inhibitions or insecurities, their liquored up confidence had jumped out and was guiding them through the night. I saw a young lady that I really care about and I knew that she was over the limit. This was unusual for her and I knew she had driven here alone, so I kept a close watch on her. I asked the bartender not to serve her anymore alcohol, “only give her water”, was my plea. He handed her a glass of water and she was furious, she began demanding her vodka. She got another vodka and I got frustrated. She was no longer in control of herself. 

I knew her as a person who was reserved and who normally shied away from dancing. Yet moments later she was dancing with anyone and everyone. Eventually, one of the posts that lined the dance floor in support of the ceiling, became her dance partner. Try as hard as I might, I could not convince her to relax, to drink water or to at least stop drinking liquor for the evening. 

I grabbed her purse as by now she had cast it aside without any regard for its contents. Eventually I went to the ladies room, with both my purse and hers in tow. There she lay sprawled out on the bathroom floor, face down in the murky damp tile. As she turned her head to speak to one of the young ladies who was attempting to help her, I noticed a piece of dirty looking toilet paper clinging to her cheek.

Thankfully, I found a musician friend of my son’s, who I also consider to be my friend. He mentioned that he was about to head home. I knew he lived in the same direction of town that she did and I persuaded him to drive her home.  He told me days later that I owed him for that as she got sick in his car more than once on their journey to her house.

The next time I saw her, she insisted, “Someone put something in my drink!”  I know that does happen, I had seen it in cases I worked in the ER for years. But in this case my thoughts were, “Yes, someone put something in your drink...it was ALCOHOL, and you demanded it!” I really cared about this young lady and I still do. She is a physician, certainly educated and certainly aware of the pitfalls of reckless behavior; but she had herself “a night to remember!” The problem is....she did not remember it at all!