I met a woman who left Russia and moved to the US about 18 years ago. She was a psychologist in her country - she became a hairstylist in the US. She now looks back on her life there amid all the despair. She recalls getting up in the morning and drinking vodka. More vodka at noon, more vodka...more vodka...
She is amazed to recall that vodka made her life better than it otherwise was - how bad would her life have been without vodka etc. She doesn’t drink it in the US unless it is at evening traditional celebrations - she doesn’t ‘need’ it. But she wonders what was so bad about her life there that made her feel that drinking vodka made it better. She can no longer remember what it was -but she remembers “we all did it” (drink like that) just to get through the day.
When in Rome (or Moscow).