Going back many years brings me to a memory from when I was fully into drinking and taking different drugs. It was a particular day, after a weekend of being in a state of inebriation and who knows what else I had taken, that this little error occurred. No, I am not proud of it, but when I think back to that day, I can laugh about it now, so it's all good.
It was an unusually hot spell, and I was working in a meatworks as a slaughterman. Back then, if the temperature reached 95 degrees, we would finish work for the day because it was too hot for us to work effectively, according to the union. It was a Friday, and being a very hot day, the temperature hit the required 95 degrees just on noon, so we downed tools and finished for the day until Monday morning.
So, where do you go when you finish? Straight to the pub, of course. Off to the Market Hotel we went, having a session lasting until midnight that Friday. Waking early the next morning, as I usually did, I realised I had slept at the pub. Actually, a few of my mates had as well. We knew the publican very well since we were always there, so of course, he looked after us. I got up to go to the bathroom, and Pat, the publican, was already up and about.
As soon as he saw me, he said, "How about a heart starter?" which is a beer to get you going. Feeling a little bit seedy, I said, "Bloody oath," so here it was, about 6:30 am, and I was having my first beer of the day. The next minute, my mates were lining up for a beer as well. One of my mates suggested we just have a bender the whole weekend and completely get written off, to which we all agreed. After all, what else could you do in this heat to keep cool but drink beer?
We had our bender over the weekend, and it was pretty wild, but I think we had a good time. I did manage to make it home on Sunday night, albeit very drunk and whatever else we had popped down our throats. The next morning, I was up at about 5 am, feeling very seedy. I thought to myself, "I need a drink," so I opened up a long neck (a bottle of beer) and drank that before going to work. As I left the unit, I grabbed a couple of cans in case a panic attack reared its ugly little head so I could drink them to calm myself down and hopefully control the panic attack.
Arriving at work around 6 am, I knew the guard at the gate really well. I said, "Hey Barry (or Bazza as I used to call him), how are you?" and he replied, "Wow, you've had a big weekend, bro." have a look at you he said with a laugh, I said, "Yeah, it was, mate." They were supposed to look through our bags as we went in and when we left, but Barry never took any notice of mine, probably knowing all the while that I had some alcohol in my bag.
While all of this was going on, we were still in the middle of this heatwave, and that morning it was still very hot and stifling. We started work at 7 am. My mate looked at me and said, "I think it will be a short day today; it is so damn hot." He was right—by 9 am, it was over 95 degrees, so it was down tools again and finished for the day.
So, back to the pub we went, all piling in around 9:30 am. The pub didn't open until 10 am, but we used to go through the back entrance. The publican would say, "Come in, boys," as it was more money for him, of course. He loved us being on strike because we would spend most, if not all, of the day in the pub. But this day, by 1 pm, I was spent—an absolute disgrace, along with a few others. I said, "I am done; that's it for me. I'm going home to sleep," as we had no sleep, or very little, over the weekend.
Getting home at about 1:30 pm, I just flaked out straight away, out like a light, as they used to say. I slept until 6:30 pm. Upon waking, it was still light outside because it was summer and daylight saving time, so it felt just like morning. I thought I had slept about 16 odd hours; I jumped up and thought, "OMG, I am late for work!" I grabbed a few things, threw a bit of water over my face, jumped in the car, and raced to work, trying not to be late. Work was not very far from where I lived, but as I was pulling in, I noticed there weren't many cars in the parking lot; it was nearly empty. It still didn't register, though that it was pm and not am.
I started walking to the security gate, and Bazza was still there, doing a double shift because someone was away sick. So, thinking nothing was wrong, I walked up and said hello to Bazza again, still thinking it was the next day. He said, "What are you doing?" I replied, "I'm a little late, but I should make it in time to get changed into my work gear." He said, "Scoob, (scoob was my nickname back then) it's 6:50 pm in the evening. Do you know it's coming into night and not 6:50 am in the morning?" I replied what Tuesday night? He looked at me and laughed and laughed; no Monday night. "Mate, what shit have you been on?" I just stood there, not knowing what to say. I thought, "You are kidding me." Then he showed me the clock in the office, and it read 6:55 pm. He said, "Look at the car park; it's practically empty apart from a few night crew."
I still couldn't believe what had just happened. I had gone to work twice in one day. When I got home, as I was single at the time, I sat there and thought, "Wow, Toby, what's happening with your life?" It was still some time after this before I gave up my wild lifestyle and got back on my spiritual path. I look back now and laugh and laugh about that happening. Yet I laugh more about Bazza laughing at me; he must have thought, what is this fool doing? So then he said, come in, and I sat in his security office, and he made me a cup of tea. We had a good chat and laugh, then before I left, I said don't you tell anyone?
One last thing: Bazza on the gate had to tell my best mate, Buster, didn't he? By the next day, it had spread through the entire meatworks like wildfire, and I got a really good stirring with many jokes about going to work twice in one day. The jokes were all light-hearted, so it wasn't that bad. No one to blame but myself.
Even when things get out of whack, we sometimes have to look at or back at them and laugh.
In Love, light, and Blessings.