Intoxication
"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on."
I can't imagine what it would be like to drink to the point of death...or damn near.
The Homesless Shelter has been a hub of drinking this week. On Wednesday I had a very drunk client ask if I would sleep in his tent with him to keep him warm. After about an hour of this, and me telling him that it's not appropriate, he left, only to return intoxicated tonight for the AA meeting.
The AA meeting had just started. I was at my desk doing my usual chatting with clients. Someone from the AA meeting told me that there was someone passed out on the property. When I went out to find out who it was, it was one of my favorite clients. Someone that stayed sober all winter long so that he would have a safe warm place to stay. I went out there and woke him up. He asked why I was there. I looked at him and said "Ken you're at the Shelter" he began crying saying "I fucked up, I fucked up I am so sorry!" I told him that it was going to be ok but that I wanted to breathalyze him to see how drunk he was. After a some talking I was able to convince him to breathalyze. We played a game, I would breathalyze myslef to see my blood alcohol content, I would breathalyze another client who was with me to see what she would blow, and then it would be Ken's turn. After myself and the other client blew .000 I told Ken it was his turn. I told him to take a deep breath and blow into the straw. The numbers kept rising...to the point where it would take 16.50 hours for the alcohol to leave his system. I went inside to call a cab to take him to the hospital. He begged not to have an ambulance take him away. The cab arrived and took Ken to the hospital where he will hopefully get some help.
It's really disappointing when you work so hard with people and they end up relapsing. Quite a few of the homeless clients I worked with this winter have been hospitalized for severe intoxication. Once they leave the Shelter they camp out, sleep under the "bridge", or get beat up so severely that they are unrecognizable. (Recently quite a few of my homeless clients wake up to being brutally beaten.)
I can still smell the alcohol, it seems to be permeating the front lobby. I don't know what it's like to feel complete hopelessness like some of my clients. My hope is that they find something to keep them going.
"Everyday is another chance to get things right."
I can't imagine what it would be like to drink to the point of death...or damn near.
The Homesless Shelter has been a hub of drinking this week. On Wednesday I had a very drunk client ask if I would sleep in his tent with him to keep him warm. After about an hour of this, and me telling him that it's not appropriate, he left, only to return intoxicated tonight for the AA meeting.
The AA meeting had just started. I was at my desk doing my usual chatting with clients. Someone from the AA meeting told me that there was someone passed out on the property. When I went out to find out who it was, it was one of my favorite clients. Someone that stayed sober all winter long so that he would have a safe warm place to stay. I went out there and woke him up. He asked why I was there. I looked at him and said "Ken you're at the Shelter" he began crying saying "I fucked up, I fucked up I am so sorry!" I told him that it was going to be ok but that I wanted to breathalyze him to see how drunk he was. After a some talking I was able to convince him to breathalyze. We played a game, I would breathalyze myslef to see my blood alcohol content, I would breathalyze another client who was with me to see what she would blow, and then it would be Ken's turn. After myself and the other client blew .000 I told Ken it was his turn. I told him to take a deep breath and blow into the straw. The numbers kept rising...to the point where it would take 16.50 hours for the alcohol to leave his system. I went inside to call a cab to take him to the hospital. He begged not to have an ambulance take him away. The cab arrived and took Ken to the hospital where he will hopefully get some help.
It's really disappointing when you work so hard with people and they end up relapsing. Quite a few of the homeless clients I worked with this winter have been hospitalized for severe intoxication. Once they leave the Shelter they camp out, sleep under the "bridge", or get beat up so severely that they are unrecognizable. (Recently quite a few of my homeless clients wake up to being brutally beaten.)
I can still smell the alcohol, it seems to be permeating the front lobby. I don't know what it's like to feel complete hopelessness like some of my clients. My hope is that they find something to keep them going.
"Everyday is another chance to get things right."
posted by Little Bits @ 7:32 PM
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