It is one of the most dangerous things that one can perform under the influence of alcohol and a number of us have fallen victims to it at some point in our lives. We never know when and whom it might strike and most aren’t prepared for it. What is it? The Drunk Dial!
The question is, why is it that a majority of people have a need to ‘reach out and touch someone’ whenever they’ve had a few too many Bacardi Breezers? Especially when the end result is always the same; brushing your teeth in front of the mirror and last night hits you like an acid flashback and you shake your head in shame and embarrassment. Promises are made never to drink again or never to drink as much, but you succumb to the same fate, over and over again. No matter whether you call an EX complaining about ‘why did you do this’ and ‘how could you….’ or a new romantic interest professing your love, most would argue that ANY sort of Drunk Dialing is a bad idea!
The damage caused by Drunk Dialing isn’t only limited to EXs or ‘new interests’ but can harm existing relationships as well. To illustrate how dangerous the Drunk Dial is and also to prevent us from making the same mistakes, a young Sindhi individual has volunteered to share his experience. The only stipulation on his part is that he remains anonymous.
Ravi discusses the night in question (The Names have been changed to protect the guilty);
“A few years ago when I was a young adult living in the UK, I had been out on the town the previous night. I guess I had a few too many since most of the latter part of the evening was a blur. I woke up the next afternoon and called my girlfriend who lived in the US. When I go through I discovered she had already left for work. I thought that was rather odd since we spoke every morning but I shrugged it off. I tried calling her at work a little while later but they said she hadn’t arrived and maybe she was at one of the other sites. The rest of the afternoon and part of the evening passed in this manner of chasing the cat. I kept calling and kept missing her. I left messages at almost every site but never heard back. I started to panic since it was highly irregular for us not to have spoken in the day. Eventually I got hold of her at one of the locations and she was highly surprised to hear from me;
“RAVI!” she bellowed ““What are you doing?”
“What am I doing? Where the hell have you been?” I inquired
“What do you mean? I’m at work”
I was really upset at this point and wasn’t shy about expressing my anger.
“How come you haven’t called me?” I demanded
“What do you mean? I didn’t even expect to hear from you”
I found that an odd answer and made no sense to me.
“What do you mean you didn’t expect to hear from me? Why wouldn’t you expect to hear from me?”
“Well, because you broke up with me last night”
What? When? Where? Who? What? What? What? The shock and confusion slapped me hard! What was she talking about?
“What!? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you remember? You called me last night and told me it wasn’t working out and broke up with me”
In the panic and confusion, I tried to think back to the previous night but my minds eye couldn’t penetrate the fog from the alcohol fumes.
“No, I didn’t, it wasn’t me” Who did I think I was, Shaggy?
“Yes you did Ravi! You called and broke up with me!”
Something began to feel vaguely familiar but I wasn’t sure if it actually happened or my mind was playing tricks on me and trying to convince me. I figured that denying it right now wouldn’t achieve anything and it was time for damage control. All I had to do was apologies and explain the situation. Nothing’s changed and we’ll be back together, it was just last night and she loves me so it’ll be ok;
“Baby, I don’t remember breaking up with you. I’m sorry. Forget it, we didn’t break up alright? I was being stupid. We’re still together alright?”
There was a long pause and I thought the line got disconnected;
“Hello? Rasna, Baby, you there?”
“Yes, yes, I’m here, sorry”
“What happened?” I asked
“Well…….”
Once again, she paused
“Well What?”
“………I already started picturing life without you Ravi”
Ravi informed us that one Drunk Dial destroyed his relationship of two years. That and the fact that he found out Rasna had been cheating on him for a year but that still doesn’t take away from the ramifications of the Drunk Dialing
Here are a few tips for those who tend to loose control after a few pints;
Delete all numbers of EXs and potential interests from your phone
Before departing for a night on the town, disconnect your phone
Plaster post-it notes all over your home
Call all potential Drunk Dialees before and warn them not to answer your call
Call a good friend, preferably of the same sex
Ensure you have friends around you to prevent you from calling
The fact is, there is no fool proof, preventative measure for Drunk Dialing. At some point you will slip and make a fool of yourself. The next day you’ll wish it was a dream but eventually you’ll have to face the music. All you can pray for is that you dial safe!
Safe Dialing
By
Chandru Bhojwani
The question is, why is it that a majority of people have a need to ‘reach out and touch someone’ whenever they’ve had a few too many Bacardi Breezers? Especially when the end result is always the same; brushing your teeth in front of the mirror and last night hits you like an acid flashback and you shake your head in shame and embarrassment. Promises are made never to drink again or never to drink as much, but you succumb to the same fate, over and over again. No matter whether you call an EX complaining about ‘why did you do this’ and ‘how could you….’ or a new romantic interest professing your love, most would argue that ANY sort of Drunk Dialing is a bad idea!
The damage caused by Drunk Dialing isn’t only limited to EXs or ‘new interests’ but can harm existing relationships as well. To illustrate how dangerous the Drunk Dial is and also to prevent us from making the same mistakes, a young Sindhi individual has volunteered to share his experience. The only stipulation on his part is that he remains anonymous.
Ravi discusses the night in question (The Names have been changed to protect the guilty);
“A few years ago when I was a young adult living in the UK, I had been out on the town the previous night. I guess I had a few too many since most of the latter part of the evening was a blur. I woke up the next afternoon and called my girlfriend who lived in the US. When I go through I discovered she had already left for work. I thought that was rather odd since we spoke every morning but I shrugged it off. I tried calling her at work a little while later but they said she hadn’t arrived and maybe she was at one of the other sites. The rest of the afternoon and part of the evening passed in this manner of chasing the cat. I kept calling and kept missing her. I left messages at almost every site but never heard back. I started to panic since it was highly irregular for us not to have spoken in the day. Eventually I got hold of her at one of the locations and she was highly surprised to hear from me;
“RAVI!” she bellowed ““What are you doing?”
“What am I doing? Where the hell have you been?” I inquired
“What do you mean? I’m at work”
I was really upset at this point and wasn’t shy about expressing my anger.
“How come you haven’t called me?” I demanded
“What do you mean? I didn’t even expect to hear from you”
I found that an odd answer and made no sense to me.
“What do you mean you didn’t expect to hear from me? Why wouldn’t you expect to hear from me?”
“Well, because you broke up with me last night”
What? When? Where? Who? What? What? What? The shock and confusion slapped me hard! What was she talking about?
“What!? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you remember? You called me last night and told me it wasn’t working out and broke up with me”
In the panic and confusion, I tried to think back to the previous night but my minds eye couldn’t penetrate the fog from the alcohol fumes.
“No, I didn’t, it wasn’t me” Who did I think I was, Shaggy?
“Yes you did Ravi! You called and broke up with me!”
Something began to feel vaguely familiar but I wasn’t sure if it actually happened or my mind was playing tricks on me and trying to convince me. I figured that denying it right now wouldn’t achieve anything and it was time for damage control. All I had to do was apologies and explain the situation. Nothing’s changed and we’ll be back together, it was just last night and she loves me so it’ll be ok;
“Baby, I don’t remember breaking up with you. I’m sorry. Forget it, we didn’t break up alright? I was being stupid. We’re still together alright?”
There was a long pause and I thought the line got disconnected;
“Hello? Rasna, Baby, you there?”
“Yes, yes, I’m here, sorry”
“What happened?” I asked
“Well…….”
Once again, she paused
“Well What?”
“………I already started picturing life without you Ravi”
Ravi informed us that one Drunk Dial destroyed his relationship of two years. That and the fact that he found out Rasna had been cheating on him for a year but that still doesn’t take away from the ramifications of the Drunk Dialing
Here are a few tips for those who tend to loose control after a few pints;
Delete all numbers of EXs and potential interests from your phone
Before departing for a night on the town, disconnect your phone
Plaster post-it notes all over your home
Call all potential Drunk Dialees before and warn them not to answer your call
Call a good friend, preferably of the same sex
Ensure you have friends around you to prevent you from calling
The fact is, there is no fool proof, preventative measure for Drunk Dialing. At some point you will slip and make a fool of yourself. The next day you’ll wish it was a dream but eventually you’ll have to face the music. All you can pray for is that you dial safe!
Safe Dialing
By
Chandru Bhojwani
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