How I Tried to Sabotage my Friend’s Sobriety

I didn’t realise how much alcohol played a part in my relationships and life until one of my closest friends told me that she was considering giving up drinking.

Initially, I shrugged it off. Lots of people Go Sober for October or have a Dry January, some even include February.

But she was going sober for 100 days, maybe forever.

It was August anyway — the end of the summer — a little early to be planning a sponsored sobriety kick for cancer research or to get over the excesses of the Christmas period. She went on to tell me about how she’d been following a pocket rehab group and identified with some of the people and their stories.

Going sober has never been a big thing to me. Joining in the Dry January or Sober October wouldn’t really be much of a challenge. I was tee-total for four years in my 20’s — take it or leave it is how I feel about alcohol. I don’t have a family history of alcohol or drug abuse. Sometimes I drink, sometimes I don’t. I rarely get drunk and I’m happy to leave the booze for days, sometimes weeks, at a time. If a bottle of wine doesn’t get finished, I’ll use it in a pasta sauce or some other recipe, maybe tip it down the drain.

Are you sure this is for you? I replied.

I figured the idea of sobriety was just a ‘new thing’ for her, like taking up jogging or walking to work. I didn’t consider her drinking to be that big a deal. She didn’t seem to have…