Posted on 11/26/2010 4:23:10 PM PST by franksolich
I quit drinking in 1987, and since then alcohol has never crossed these lips.....in between these shores.
Exactly why I quit drinking remains cloudy, ambiguous, to this day. While I had been a heavy drinker from the time I was about 17 years old, I had never gotten into any legal, financial, or academic trouble because of it. My drink of choice was usually St. Louis-Beajolais, that bitter red wine that tastes like the blood of one's enemies, and for about 15 years, I drank a vineyard of the stuff.
There was a vague notion that being deaf, drinking was not exactly a good idea. Being deaf requires an always-alert, always-awake, always-quick, perception of the world around one, and alcohol of course dulls those senses.....
.....However when in the socialist paradises of the workers and peasants, one had to adapt to their world--and if one dared put up a spirited, vigorous resistance, one was forcibly compelled to adapt; practically held down by several arms and the stuff jammed down one's throat.
(Excerpt) Read more at conservativecave.com ...
ping for the list
fascinating as always! How did you communicate with/ through your interpreter?
Sis is a daily NIGHTMARE dating back to 1984.
Now she has 2 kids, 5 and 13.
She cannot be trusted with money, incapable of having friends or being out on her own, even to go to a store, Thinks about booze 24/7 while downing 35+ adivans a day.
Complains constantly about her so-called horrible life, the whole world is against her etc etc.
I have her 5 yr old son sleeping here tonight because she stole mouthwash today and got loaded and attempted to take off like she has in the past.
You know, take off as in hitchhiking, getting loaded with some stranger and getting gang raped and hopefully dropped of on my moms front lawn still breathing.
She seems to have an affinity to her little ‘walks’, Helps her ‘forget’ or something like that.
The walks are my moms worst nightmare.
I’m sick of this, she has no clue of all of the lives she has ruined around her.
She needs to be institutionalized.
But how?
What about the kids?
What a frigging nightmare i live.
I meant 35+ milligrams of adivan a day.
She is a wretch.
apparently she is over their ranting about wanting to be dead and killing herself at the moment.
I’d be a bit worried if i haven’t heard the exact same crap weekly for the past 25 years.
what a mess.....
Have you tried going to Ala-Non?
There's a movie, from the early 1960s or something, in which Jackie Gleason plays a deaf-and-dumb man, and befriends the son of a woman of easy virtue.
I've never seen the movie myself, and don't know it's name.
Anyway, I've been told I "act" like that with people new to me. And then after I get a few "bearings" from the body language (after all, each individual has his own body language, and so it requires that one be mega-multi-linguistic), it's much easier.
In the beginning, I had a 3x5 card with certain "key" words in Ukrainian/Russian-English, as did four other people; the same card.
But due to quickness of learning (both sides), those became superfluous.
As I "taught"--so-called--spoken English, apparently others tended to imitate me.
One time I met a Canadian who spoke with the interpreter, and complimented him on his good English. Upon learning that I had "taught" him, she turned to me, asking, "Oh, is that the Nebraska accent?"
No, I told her; that was the franksolich accent; people in Nebraska are generally known to have no accent.
I’ve pushed my mom into going in the past for some support but she doesn’t seem interested. I think she doesn’t want to be bothered by people telling her one thing while living a nightmare on the other. I dunno.
She is overly emotional, Even after 25 years of this crap she has no idea how to handle it.
In her mind reasoning, yelling, hiding it and guilt trips are the answer.
It doesn’t work.
you cannot reason with an insane person.
I’m gonna check out Ala-Non again and try to get her to join.
Thanks.
My thoughts and prayers are with you, good luck.
Thank you, another well written story. I was sorry to reach the end. Looking forward to your next one.
More great stuff. The East European heart-of-darkness scenes with one bizarre image after another reminds me a little of Jerzy Kosinski’s books.
I would have been right there with you with the sledgehammer.
Add me to your pinglist Frank. Thanks!
“’m sick of this, she has no clue of all of the lives she has ruined around her.
She needs to be institutionalized.
But how?
What about the kids?”
Maybe try to get her to give you legal custody of the children? In exchange for favors she wants or something?
I remember watching that movie on TV as a child. It was "Gigot".
Gleason's character was much like "The Poor Soul ", the character he played on The Jackie Gleason Show.
It looks like it's no longer available. He was good at saying 1000 words while saying nothing.
You’re not responsible for her poor decisions. She is your blood kin, though.
Convince her to give you or someone responsible legal custody of the kids. Encourage her to rid herself of the addictions, and to seek treatment for what sounds very much like manic depression.
Do this whenever it seems necessary. But, she’s going to do what she’s going to do. It’s her decision. It’s hard to still care while letting the weight of responsibility go, but that’s the fine line you need to ride, imho.
Forgive her for her weaknesses and inconsideration and sin. Pray for her and ask God to help her out of this, and to help you handle it in His way, the best way. Try to limit the damage to her children.
Beyond this, it’s not in your control.
Filmed in 1962, Gigot.
Gleason wrote the original story and music for this film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rkGRl-cq2I
Well done.
I stumbled across your recent column regarding Thanksgiving in the Ukraine and now have read this.
What compelled you to go there to begin with? You are quite courageous; Being deaf and willfully going to an oppressive country takes guts.
When reading your account of the area, the only thing my minds eye can see is gray. No color...only images in gray.
Those people must suffer a never ending depression of their souls. No joy, no hope...
That is the world in which the marxist in the WH wishes for this country.
Anyway, I’ve been totally engrossed in your writings. If you would add me to your ping list I’d greatly appreciate it.
Why I went there is explained in "afternoon with a madman".....somewhere. That story was linked here, but the original is at the link on my next comment, below.
Essentially, "affirmative action," "equal opportunity," and "disability" laws have pushed the "handicapped" onto the fringe of the job market; potential employers won't touch us with a ten-foot pole, fearing litigation and all that. Mired in a menial dead-end job, I decided if I wasn't going to have a prosperous life, I could at least have an interesting one. That is, as God is my witness, the real reason.
Of course, being single with no one dependent upon me, and no mortgage, car payments, loans, whatnot, I could take such a risk.
When reading your account of the area, the only thing my minds eye can see is gray. No color...only images in gray.
That, madam, I consider a high compliment indeed, because that is the color I tried to emphasize when writing this, and it appears that at least for one reader, I succeeded. Thank you.
Those people must suffer a never ending depression of their souls. No joy, no hope...
Of course they were suffering a depression at the time, given that everything was in civil and social disorder, the government corrupt, the-sky's-the-limit inflation, much uncertainty.
It was especially bad in the eastern half of Ukraine, the "Soviet" part, where I spent most of my time; the further one was away from Poland and the west, the greyer it was.
However, there is the tenacity of the human spirit to survive, and I was witness to that. The workers and peasants--and not so much the socialists running things--were some of the most interesting, colorful, charming, and courageous people one can hope to meet; wonderful people. One loves the people, but loathes the "system" that keeps them down.
Before I went, I was already contemptuous of socialism, but when there, actually seeing, "hearing," touching, smelling, living, and feeling things, my loathing for those who seek to create Heaven on earth increased ten, a hundred, a thousand, a million, times over.
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