A Drunkard's Diary (Part 3): Beer Tastes Better When You Have a Beard

I should’ve recognized I was developing some pretty bad drinking habits during my first few months back home. I had no military affiliation during this time and was in my first actual semester of college. And I was drinking like a fish. Most days, I’d get out of class and on the way home I stopped by a coffee shop to get a vanilla latte. As soon as I got home, I was pouring a good bit of Kahlua into that latte. After the latte, I usually took a nap (I feel like coffee and naps go together much better than they get credit for). But almost as soon as I woke up from the nap, I was drinking a beer and then after a couple beers, I usually switched to liquor.

Still, I didn’t feel I had a problem. For starters, I was recently separated from the Air Force and if there’s any cause for a months-long celebration, it’s getting out of the military. Even if it could be said I was drinking more than I should’ve been, my grades in school were good and it’s not alcoholism until it affects your grades. Plus, I was still taking a night or two off every week, so I knew I was still in control of my drinking. I was just having a good time with it and why let a good time end prematurely?

Before I knew it, six months of my life had gone by in a drunken blur. I’m not gonna lie, I had a great time. For six months I was growing out a glorious beard, doing great in my classes despite missing quite a few days of class (the fact it was all freshman level classes probably helped that), and was pretty much able to drink and play video games to my heart’s content. However, it was time to get a little more serious about my life and bring back some discipline into my routine. So I joined the Air Force Reserves.