Why we shouldn’t feel obliged to provide services like Arc Light
Tonight, while out walking my dog, I bumped into someone I hadn’t seen in years. She was the ex-partner of a former very good friend of mine who I used to knock about with but had lost touch with over time. Now this friend of mine was, and probably still is, a lovely guy, bereft of a bad bone in his body and totally unlikely to attack an old lady outside the post office on pension day; but he is, and always was, a slave to the bottle. Now he is a street drinker on the cycle of homelessness and hostels at the age of 44.
My conversation this evening started a little awkwardly because, as I hadn’t seen her for a long time, I wasn’t certain how aware she was of her ex-partners situation. In the end I bit the bullet and told her I’d seen him recently in Morrison’s; arguing with a fellow street drinker about the price of a bottle of vodka. She wasn’t one bit surprised, certainly not as surprised as I was when she told me that even when they were together he was permanently drunk, despite her and his family’s pleas for him to stop for the sake of their child. I knew he liked a beer or two, and I used to match him pint for pint when we used to go out, but I had no idea that when he disappeared (as he always did) at the end of the night that he used to go home and hit the vodka until he passed out.
My old mate also happens to be a highly gifted and skilled craftsman, but he no longer has a job because he couldn’t turn up on a morning. In the style of the typical alcoholic, when I saw him in Morrison’s he told me he was still working. I could tell in his eyes that he knew that I knew the truth.
I am not in any way gloating about this, or judging my old friend, because I know I drink far too much myself and I don’t want to be hypocritical, but as his ex-partner said to me “Don’t feel sorry for him, he’s had chance after chance to sort his life out” I believe her as I saw her eyes when she said it. He has spent time in York’s hostels and, she wasn’t sure but, she said he may be living in one now but what good is it doing him as the self abuse just continues?
He has chosen his lifestyle. He chose alcohol over his family, he chose alcohol over his work and he chose alcohol over himself. Should society feel sorry for him? I don’t think so. If there was no safety net of places like Arc Light and Peasholme then more important choices would be quite simple for these people: get sober and live or continue on the way to Gin Lane and die!
One other thing I learned tonight that I found very interesting was the answer to a question that has been puzzling me for ages…
Why do street drinkers always wear baseball caps?
Any ideas?
Well the answer is that their livers are so fucked up that their eyes can no longer stand sunlight so the baseball cap helps shield them from it. You learn something every day!
Anyway, in conclusion, we shouldn’t feel the need to try and save the street drinkers because the only people who can is themselves.
See you soon…
February 14th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Should lock them in a room untill the cravings pass, same for any addiction.
Then take them out, let them experience what life is like in normal situations and leave them to it.
Support for both drugs and alcohol is much too along the softly softly lines, and is costing us all a great deal.
February 14th, 2008 at 05:54 pm
Cold turkey in prison would work wonders, but first of all visitors would have to be kept behind glass screens as they are in the USA, (no visits at all if they complain), with no bodily contact, and the corrupt prison officers who smuggle drugs in would have to be dealt with.
February 14th, 2008 at 08:16 pm
As someone who used to be able to drink for England on a night out, and someone who’s career used to take her out every night of the week and booze - I learned how easy it is to get drunk and make a tit of yourself quite quickly. Motherhood put a stop to the career and the booze and now I barely drink anything. The point i’m trying to make is I was a social drinker (to excess), but alcoholism is quite different and is a disease, to state the bleedin’ obvious. There are many studies that state that some people are pre-disposed to having an addictive personality - thus more likely to become alcoholics in the same way some are likely to get cancer due to genetics.
If this is the case, should we let cancer patients sleep on the street too?
I agree, hostel after hostel doesn’t solve alcoholism…like most of the problems with our country we don’t seek to cure the root cause before it’s too late or even try to instill preventative measures before the illness takes hold. I’m not talking soft shite - Rehab seems to work for those who can face up to the fact they’ve got a problem…many don’t bother. I’m all for enforced rehab for anyone who seeks the help of a hostel and is obviously suffering some kind of addiction. Like most situations, we need to toughen up to help these people….not worry about their human rights…what sort of human wants to live gripped by a disease when there’s a cure?
Incidentally, I remember the 3 wino’s that used to sit outside the Arts Centre when I was a kid, and they actually appeared as happy as larry with their lot. I never saw them scrapping, or kicking anyone to death because they were permanently pickled!