Glory days weren’t so glorious after all

http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=37161&q=david%20trinko

Glory days weren’t so glorious after all

David Trinko dtrinko@limanews.com - 04.10.2007
The scene would’ve seemed dull just 10 years ago.
It was 9:30 p.m., and I reclined on my couch. My wife’s slumbering body pinned my lap down. Our 5-year-old had been sleeping for about an hour, and Mrs. Trinko was asleep for nearly that same amount of time.
The television set clicked off, leaving only silence and time to reflect on life. We make a decent living, and there’s plenty of laughter in our home. There’s love, happiness and joy. By all accounts, life is good for us.
I started thinking about a fellow I knew, in his early 20s. He would’ve hated that scene. Silence intimidated him. He was young, and he wanted to live.
The Lima bar scene was his place in the world. Nearly every night he’d head out after work, consume a few too many alcoholic beverages and somehow stumble home. “Bud Heavy,” he’d call his drink of choice. If a bartender looked at him cross-eyed or confused, he’d clarify, “Budweiser.”
That’s how he spent his free time, drinking with a group of friends, talking about the issues of the day and arguing how the world would be different if he were in charge.
He had good friends, and there were plenty of ideas in his life. There was independence, spontaneity and thrill. By all accounts, life was good for him.
A few weeks ago, my wife and daughter were off visiting other parts of the state, leaving me free on a Tuesday night to relive that nighttime scene.
That’s when it became obvious to me that I’m the man I am now and not the man I was 10 years ago. The conversations I overheard seemed trite. The alcohol seemed like a Band-Aid on bigger problems in lives. It was a chance to vent. Once the venting was done, all that remained was a room full of emptiness for many of them.
Yet that will become a glory day for many of the people there. I think back to some of those hilarious stories you share about those days.
We had one friend who fell asleep in nearly every drinking establishment in Lima. We had another friend who eventually ended his marriage so he could have more fun. Then there was the time we left a guy behind accidentally when we were swept away for a surprise half-birthday party.
And none of us will ever forget the night we stayed up drinking all night and headed to Bob Evans at 6 a.m., only to find out it opened at 6:30 a.m. in that location. Some brave souls even tried playing golf that morning before returning to work in the afternoon.
As I look back at those fond memories, I have to wonder if I should enjoy them and be proud of them. It makes me realize what a stupid kid I was, relying on suds to help make my life seem right.
I’m no teetotaler. I still enjoy good beer and great conversation. I also realize how it could’ve easily destroyed my world if I’d ever been caught being so reckless and ridiculous. I could’ve truly hurt myself or someone else by being so dumb.
I could have ruined the life I’m living and loving now, even if I would’ve hated it then.
So here’s a word of warning to the young and bulletproof. Be careful with your lives. Every decision you make could affect your future.
Have fun, but be responsible with it. You’ll thank yourself for it, say, 10 years down the road.