Gerb de Column Writer: This time will be a breeze

Geez, I was bummed. When I think back, I still see everything spinning. Get three, pay one. I was about seventeen and went out with two friends. We had been talking about it for a week and all our classmates were of course aware of it. Our favorite pub had a cocktail night. And not just any cocktail evening: get three cocktails and only pay for one. I thought they were joking, but it was actually true.

Especially for this evening we were already in town at 9 p.m., because this promotion 'only' lasted until 11 p.m. So don't drink anything, because we would do that in the pub this time. There we were, the three of us at the bar. Looking sharp. If I remember correctly, there were about ten more pub-goers. All three-for-ones, just as crazy as we are. "What would you like?" asked the lady behind the bar. Of course I wanted a special cocktail, because they were normally so expensive. Now it was finally possible at a reasonable price. I ordered the Caipirinha, like it was the most normal thing in the world. So after a few minutes I got three. What a feast, I can still see them standing next to each other. All three for me. With a straw. Slurp, slurp, that was number one. What fun we had together. And quickly on to number two. Imagine, now a seventeen year old would be punishable. Before I knew it number three was already gone. Pfff, let's go to the toilet anyway. No sooner had I finished the bar stool than I sensed that something was not quite right. Nothing to worry about, just walk through and look tough. In the toilet I saw not one toilet bowl, but about four. And suddenly my evening drinking cocktails was over. I wanted to go home. Lie on the couch. Drink lots of milk and get out of this pub. I can still picture the look of my two buddies when I told them I was going home. “Already?!” they cried in unison.

Now we laugh at memories of these evenings and know better. We all remember one specific night, right? And especially the feeling that alcohol brought us back then. Anyway, back to the present. It's already March 6, 2019 and we're all going to do it again. For the second time this year, not drinking for a while. Break the habit for a while and put the alcohol on a break. Although I now have to let my wine stand ten days longer than last time. This time will be a breeze. I just feel it. Now I know what it will get me. And if I ever have trouble and feel like a drink, I just think back to that one evening. Seventeen years old, tough going out with my friends and before twelve o'clock in the morning already between the sheets with a tub next to my bed.