AJ’s advice – dealing with drunk friends
| May 26, 2012 | Posted by Alaa Jasim under AJ's Advice |
As many people do, I have a close group of friends, and often when they get together a large volume of alcohol will be consumed. Honestly, I don’t know how they do it. Large amounts of alcohol often mean large numbers of drunken friends, who can be pretty hard to look after. I’m fortunate enough to only have heard tales of the really bad bits, but I thought it might be prudent for us all to have a checklist for when we’re in the “designated driver” or just the “I don’t drink” scenario and everyone else is completely trashed.
Keep them hydrated
Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it flushes all the water out of the body, so after a certain time people will get dehydrated even though they’re drinking. Make sure your friends are drinking water between alcoholic beverages to lessen the impact the morning after. It’ll probably stop their livers hating them, too, and might keep them a little more aware of what they’re up to while intoxicated.
Keep calm
This point seems to weasel its way into most of my columns these days, but it really does work for almost anything. Keep calm around drunk friends. Some of mine can get a little handsy when they’re tipsy, and getting angry isn’t going to help. Just move them away, give them some water to distract them, and make sure they’re aware of what they’re doing. People can be much more volatile when they’re drunk. The least violent person in the world might try to fight you – “try” being the operative word, since they probably won’t succeed – so it won’t do any good to be pugnacious in response.
Have help on hand
If possible, try to make sure you’re not the only sober one in the pack. Strength in numbers is always good, especially if it’s a house party and there’s a fairly large group people enjoying themselves. Being around a load of drunk people can be difficult, so having another sober person to talk to might keep you sane.
Be honest, but not aggressive
Don’t be afraid to get rid of the alcohol and help the friends sober up once you think they’ve had enough. Make sure that there’s plenty to eat and that really, really drunk people aren’t left alone. It can be easy for people to get carried away and accidentally have a bit too much. (It’s always unsurprising when those people feel the effects pretty badly the following day.) As I mentioned earlier, try not to be aggressive about how you handle this, or the friend might get upset or angry and just make everything worse.
Dealing with drunk friends can be a pain in the backside, but at least you hopefully won’t have to do it too often. Everything usually works out alright in the end, so don’t worry while you’re there.
That’s all from me for this week. As always, questions, comments and suggestions are welcome. Feel free to get in touch and I’ll see you next time!
“Don’t be afraid to get rid of the alcohol” – no, be very very afraid.
That actually made me laugh out loud.
-AJ