Temporary teetotaler?

It is tough to pull it off when you are in the vicinity of a bar called 'Whiskey Dicks'!. That too after a 5 hour drive through clogged roads. (a fast 5 hour journey on an empty road is less tiresome than a 5 hour journey inhibited by traffic, even if you're just a passenger..wonder why...anyways thats besides the point). I had gone to Lake Tahoe with Jai(my bro-in-law) a couple of weekends back. The journey, longer than expected...the destination, colder than expected...i was awfully underclothed in the bottoms dept. In any case we decided to go to a bar. I had recently decided be a teetotaler until April, to meet some agenda of mine. Primarily because i smoke whenever i drink and my resolve to not smoke may not hold water after a couple of rounds of water. So i thought i'll let Jai drink and i would have lemonade or some such inconsequential fluid, not fully beleiving it.

So we went to 'Whiskey dicks'. A small poster announced "Tip, you bastard!". Another more conspicuous one politely requested "Help our bartenders get ugly people laid". Now, if you enter a place like this, and you like the idea of drinking, the drinkers' rule book says you ought not to come out without a drink or two. So i readily agreed when Jai suggested Beer. There was this nerdy guy in the bar who had a Rubic's cube and solved it under a minute for you if you bought him a shot. He was rather good at it...and in the slight tipsy state i felt sorry for him...not sure why...maybe because i thought some one as smart as that should be able to buy his own drink, shouldn't he? But then, he pawns what he knows for a drink, just the way i pawn what i know for a monthly pay cheque. Now that the drink's effect has long worn off i am less sorry for him. Somewhere along the way we saw two women kissing. Thats a first. Jai went 'That was hot man!'. I continued to concentrate on the beer. For me, to be turned on, if i am not directly involved in the act, the act has to be 2-dimensional and i should be alone. I am a pile of contradictions in this department (i hope everyone is), so lets leave it at it. After the drink, we went to an Italian restaurant close by. As we entered, a mom-daughter pair was leaving with the daughter telling her mom "Mom, you're drunk...walk carefully...you shouldn't be drinking so much at 80". For some reason, that had a vague feel good factor.

Back in chennai and heading to Bangalore. Meeting a bunch of seasoned glass holders in bangalore tonight. When we enter a bar tonight, i'll tell myself that i'll drink a lemonade or some such inconsequential fluid...

Postscript: Over the weekend in Bangalore, my resolve to not drink drowned in Beer, Margarita, Vodka and Baang and went up in tobacco smoke (To my defence, 5 cigarettes only).