[reason 205] guys like lester

I was in the Emergency Department with one of my children last night and had quite the conversation with Lester, who admitted he'd had too much to drink. He wasn't falling over, slurring speech drunk. He was share your life story drunk.

I could share Lester's tale of woe, but it's his story to share. Let's just say he took full responsibility for his idiocy, except the part where his partner drives him to drink, even though he should know better. You can only be the clean, sober, responsible one for so long, you see. 

He knows he's in a situation he needs to get out of. He knows what he needs to do. But there are circumstances holding him back. 

Now most people would think me an idiot for engaging a random drunk person in the emergency department in conversation, but he looked like he just needed to get stuff off his chest. I'm a good listener, at least sometimes, and I'm an especially good listener when I've been bored out of my mind in the emergency department waiting room for over an hour hoping that my child would get seen soon because their pain was only increasing. And so Lester talked and I listened, nodding and offering a few words here and there. He wasn't a bother at all. He was just someone who was overwhelmed with life and dealing with it the wrong way. I think he needed to talk just as much as he needed medical treatment. 

I hope Lester is moving forward with the grand plans he made while drunk and in the ED. I wish him well.