Pox

Difference:  Significant change in or effect on a situation or state.  

Many years ago a wise man commented about a certain group of people: "You can count on them to do the right thing after they've exhausted all other possibilities."  I've always thought that this is a great description of an alcoholic in recovery.

I've been suffering for many years with some of the negative side effects of consuming too much of the caffeine found in coffee: racing heart, nervous jitters, increased anxiety.  The thing is I require no caffeine in my body to get me going.  I am a Type A hyperactive.  I am by nature switched on.  I am fully energized and do not need a jump start.  I know that some people handle the mild stimulant effect of coffee just fine and I hate them for it.  But I'm not able to handle it myself.

I so enjoy the kick I get from the caffeine, though.  It's like a cattle prod delivered directly to my heart.  It make me feel different.  Not better, necessarily, but different, music to the ears of a dude who loathes the status quo.  Alcoholics want to be somewhere else.  Anywhere else.  It can be terrible as long as it's different.

Now the coffee is starting to chew up my stomach.  Do I stop?  I do not.  Do I moderate?  At times and always temporarily and very begrudgingly.  I'm not anti-coffee just like I'm not anti-alcohol - it simply produces a dolorous effect when it's mixed into my bloodstream.

I ask around.   Willie gave it up for a while.  Farmer Bill shelved it two years ago and Spandex says:  "Coffee and me?  I don't think so.  Bad combination."  My Old City sponsor drinks decaf and my Vacation Town sponsor no longer indulges.

Idiots.  Bastards.  A pox on their homes.

Pox: A disease characterized by purulent skin eruptions that may leave pockmarks.

Ed. Note:  OK, I take back the "pox on their homes" part as it seems excessive and unnecessarily cruel.