Formal Date From Hell

by SusanANSYupdated on May 5, 2024February 9, 2022

Guest Post by Alex

Hello, I’m Alex (male). This is a story of what I call my “formal date from Hell.” It’s a demonstration of how being drunk can have really negative consequences.

The story is true but the names and locations have been changed for privacy reasons.

Keeping it Formal

I used to work at a radio station in the Midwest that had a big band/nostalgia music format. As part of our promotions for our listeners, we would host performances by famous personalities at our local auditorium.

At this time I had met a woman, “Carrie”, through the radio station and invited her to attend the performance with me at the auditorium. My contribution to the staff attending was to supply the beer, ice, and cooler. This was a formal evening at the auditorium; I had worn my tuxedo for the occasion.

I had been dating Carrie for a couple of months, and I knew she drank, but didn’t consider her an alcoholic. No one in my family had the “alcoholic gene” so I wasn’t aware of the insidious effects of alcohol on an individual with an addictive personality. I had experienced my fraternity brothers getting drunk at “keg parties” at college, but come the next morning, nothing much was noted among the brothers — beyond the hangovers or overnight sickness.

Drank Beer Like It Was Water

At the auditorium that night, I observed Carrie drinking the bottled beer quite a lot as if it was water. I also observed her getting a little loud with the other people at our table, and I had to quietly shush her several times.

After a few hours of this behavior I noticed that she was being increasingly obnoxious, not violent, but embarrassingly loud so as to possibly cause a scene. I apologized to the staff nearby and told them we were leaving. We went back to the hotel room.

A Turn For The Worse

Carrie had mentioned to me earlier that night that she was supposed to turn herself in to the police in the morning anyway as part of a plea deal. I don’t remember the reason why but turning herself in on her own accord was important enough for her to tell me. She was non-violent but obviously had a drinking problem. In the hotel room, she continued to act obnoxiously, even though we didn’t have any drinks in the room.

I was scheduled to begin a radio shift that morning (Saturday) at 10 am, so I wanted to be able to get to sleep in preparation for the shift. Carrie continued to be obnoxious well after midnight, resulting in my calling 911 to have her removed, so I could sleep.

“10-15, She’s Got To Go”

A sheriff’s deputy and a police officer from the local police department arrived at the room and began an interview of Carrie. She explained about turning herself in in the morning, and one of the officers called in on the radio for a background check.

After the officer completed the radio background check the second officer asked him what the next step was, and he responded, “10-15, she’s got to go.” A 10-15 code for law enforcement means “prisoner”.

At that point, Carrie was handcuffed and informed she was going to jail. This result was not what Carrie expected, and she put up a struggle with the officers. I still remember her being half-walked, half-dragged down the hotel hallway by the officers, yelling and pleading her case.

This was my first life experience with an alcoholic. It’s not pretty to watch, especially if the person has unlimited access to alcohol. I truly hope Carrie is alright, and that this event (hopefully) was a wake-up call for her.

EPILOGUE: I never heard from Carrie again, and I completed my radio shift that morning, after only 5 hours of sleep. It was a rather surreal shift after only getting to sleep at 2:30 am and up again at 7:30.

If you, or someone you love, has a drinking problem and someone shared this post with you, simply head on over to A New Sober You.