Many people think of the sixties as a time of rebellion, exploration and rejection of the status quo, fuelled by a plethora of substances designed to enhance one's state of mind. They say that if you can remember the sixties you were not there.
Escaping from home in 1967 was life changing for me and I confess to over indulging in alcohol on many occasions. I am not sure how I managed that on a very meagre income but we definitely had our moments. Beer was affordable in those days, wine less so. Drugs at college were not obviously in use, at least not to me. I lived in hall and as such we were under more scrutiny than those who lived in other accommodations. There was some pot around but for many of us it was best avoided as being caught would have led to the end of your place at college and the idea of going home again was not one to consider.
I first tried pot at my sister's place in Notting Hill. I remember sitting around in her flat listening to the Incredible String Band and sharing a joint. It was a pretty good experience - the stuff was very strong and all four of us were pretty stoned by the end of it. I did enjoy it but afterwards felt no need to try it again, though I did once or twice in later life, and on neither occasion did I enjoy it as much as that first time.
Harder drugs scared me, and I was never tempted to try anything, not that it ever came my way. I suppose in that sense I was lucky. Lives change on random meetings as we know, and i was fortunate to have met mostly good people.
Of course going into teaching is a good incentive to avoid anything illegal and so from 1970, alcohol became my only drug of choice. It remains so and I sometimes think that I drink too much or at least too often, and then I think what the hell and carry on anyway. I know that my body is falling apart and that sooner or later it will fail completely - it happens to us all. I can't remember where the story came from but it goes like this - Someone was told, eat less, give up drink, give up smoking and you will live longer." The reply was "Why?"
1 comment:
Indeed Why?
As the wonderful Billy Connolly observed, the extra time you get from eating wholemeal bread, not drinking etc etc is only available to you in your last days when you may not want it!
Life can be cruel and unfair.
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