First step into the gutter

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I've always wondered, where's the tipping point when somebody metamorphosizes from being a typical drunken slob into a full-blown, pants-shitting, gutter-dwelling wino. Well, now I have the opportunity to observe a living petri-dish-style case study, as somebody I know has basically blown all their chances and been thrown onto the street as a result of getting pissed one too many times and drunkenly destroying their shared house, ripping all the doors off the hinges, smashing the toilet and creating a flood, etc. (Somebody else I know got thrown out of their house after they culminated a three-day speed binge by being caught masturbating in the shared kitchen, but that's another story.) Is dereliction inevitable for some people? Or is it a function of increasing social atomisation? How early can one identify a soon-to-be street bum? I think I'm so fascinated with this topic because I'm hypersensitive to this possibility in my own life, having stopped drinking some years ago but still feeling complete dessication's gravitational pull...

― dave q, Tuesday, 13 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Re 'atomisation' - is there a certain age where people are most prone to slipping into oblivion, etc. - (example mentioned in the question box (not me) is late 30s) - when acquaintances split into two categories, those who are doing alright and don't want to be dragged down with YOUR shit, and those who YOU avoid because you don't want to be dragged down by theirs? (Either way, increasing isolation...)

― dave q, Tuesday, 13 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

dave q - you have the sweetest friends

― Geoff, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hi Dave :) In a great way you're right. Everyone has their own bucket and and whether we share our or accept another's, the bucket overfills and you have to dump the whole thing.( Which is great!) When a person can do that, they are free to help others. Someday if I meet someone I want to be with, I will NOT dump a bucket on them. I will be with him with a clear clean bucket :) Does this make sense? Gale

― Gale Deslongchamps, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

But some heartless fiend has stolen my bucket Gale! What should I do?

Dave, it’s probably not some kind of foregone conclusion or pre- destination if that’s what you mean. But I think I get at least some shade of that same feeling (see "argaghhh.." thread).

― Kim, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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