Man and the bottle

Like a play, we all have a beginning, a middle where we face various challenges and conflicts that we must resolve, and, of course, an end. We do not know how the script will unfold for us at the start. But at some point, most of us will think about our purpose. Some of us will initiate change in the world, while some of us will live our lives never making any drastic impact, never questioning the status quo and never even mustering the courage to think outside the box.

Recently, I thought about the scripts for alcoholics. As I strolled along a street, one of them made some ridiculous joke as a way of getting my attention and I wondered if he thought there was any chance of me taking him seriously. Still, I began thinking about the plot that he and the many others like him are the centre of. Like the ones I often see gathered at the street corners, in yards or in the ‘rum shops’ with bottles and cups drinking themselves to the point of inebriation. It’s as if they are saying to life, “I don’t care if I live or die.”