A type of tipsy education

I want you all to know I'm breaking my personal religion and eating Chinese food with a fork so I can write this at the same time.

This note stems from a discussion (sic; see 'argument') with one of my TA's. In lecture she claimed that if you had 15+ alcoholic units a week, regularly, then you were by definition an alcoholic. A quick bit of maths revealed this was the equivalent of having a pint with dinner every day.

I, understandably, took offense. Those who know me will appreciate why. Hell, anyone from Europe would. For all those who don't know me, I had fifteen units last night, and will be doing so again this Friday and Saturday in at least equal quantities.

My TA, who I don't think could comprehend how misinformed she was, then dropped another bomb: Apparently consuming 150 units in a single week was very likely to cause irreparable liver damage.

This is an organ that can regrow bits that get chopped off. I'm sure 150/units a week continually over an extended period could have lasting effects, but in one week?

I had to intervene; this was just not true. If anyone cares to recall how much I drank the week I turned 18 (including both the Pub outing AND the party in the hall with the yard glass) will know I must of had in excess of 150 units. Doing that every week, maybe. But not once in a blue moon.

Oh, and let's not forget that week in Dublin.

I made these points to my TA, quite calmly, and she called me a liar. Openly, in front of all my peers. I asked her if she knew how much a unit was, and she claimed she did. I then asked her if she knew what a pint was, and she told me she didn't see how that was relevant.

Pint. Alcohol. Pretty damn relevant, right?

At this point several of my class mates starting raising points against her statements, probably born from memories of some of their experiences with alcohol. But no, we were all wrong. The TA said European units were different, that we were lying to show off, she said these were scientific facts.

I said that they weren't, or if they were that science had got it very, very wrong.

Seriously, I dread to think how much I drank in Dublin. Enough to kill the average American family, apparently.

I have two friends back home who regularly consume about three litres of spirits every week. I'm not saying that's necessarily a good thing, I'm just pointing out that they're still alive. Kind of proves my TA wrong.

Maybe my TA should just get out more

Singing (loosely termed) for absolution

I'm rather drunk as I write this so forgive a lack of spelling, grammar, intelligence and wit.

So now i'm the bad guy, even by my own reckoning - not completely, and certainly not in a greater way, but I haven't really behaved as maturely as I could have. I don't really know what to do now so I'm stuck drinking and making sarcastic comments. How the mighty have fallen and do hide behind unfit walls.

Today was good, mostly. I made new friends in my lecture and enjoyed the fact that I get to watch trainspotting in February for academic purposes. You know the world is getting confused when a film like that is called educational. But hey, I can't complain; I'm just a student and it's not like my opinion influences how things are taught, right? I just foot the bill.

As mentioned before, I'm drinking. although I don't really know why. I'm not too depressed any more - which is not to say I'm fine, or that I don't feel bad but I'm past the worst of it. At least I think so. Might just be the eye of the storm. I'm not going out either, not for a few days, so it's certainly not pre-drinking unless I'm going for an extreme night out. Which I doubt. And I'm kind of drinking out of reflex, because I'm used to, which is a bad sign in itself.

I guess I'm confused and don't know what to do. Quite why becoming inebriated will aid me is beyond my comprehension so I should probably stop.

However there's vodka still left in the bottle so I guess rationality will have to wait. I;ll see you later, I'm going to get lost in a liquid embrace.