west coast usa, started drinking on occasion at 16, whenever we could find someone to buy us some beer, after graduation went in the service, then to vietnam, from then till i was 33 i drank all the time, as much as i could it seemed, not sure if it was to forget or just a really bad habit. i was what some refer to as a "happy" drunk. at 33 i pretty much stopped drinking, at least daily and heavily, but still had a drink now and then.
kind of a funny story; when i was 17 me and 3 of my drinking buddies were always looking for someone to buy us beer. there was this girl who, for a lack of a better description, came from the other side of the tracks and had few friends. she was in a couple of my classes and we always talked, laughed, shared notes from the class. one night me and my buddies were out cruising, looking for someone to buy us some beer, and i happened to see this girl's older brother, Dave. i asked him if he would do something for me, and he looked at me and said, "hey aren't you "john smith" and in my sister's class?" i told him i was, and he said his sister had told him about me, and he said, "what can i help you with?" he bought me the beer and was my steady beer connection from that point on.
now jump ahead 4 years, and after i get back from vietnam i go to work at a prison, and one day i'm assigned to the recreation yard, and i'm watching the inmates walk around the track and i see this one guy and i think, "he sure looks familiar" and the closer her gets the more i recognize him, and he looks at me kind of funny but continues on with his walk. the next time around he comes over close and stops and says, "you're "john smith" right?" and i said, "yep, it's me Dave, what the hell you doing in here?" he said you won't believe this but i'm doing 3 years for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. he had bought some beer for some kids and they got caught and told on him. we had a good laugh about that one.
