Being clean and sober in old-time Phoenix


Since it's the beginning of a new year, I know that a lot of people are setting goals, one of which is to be clean and sober. And of course now I'm thinking about what that would have meant in old-time Phoenix.

As far as I can tell, sobriety wasn't the same as being tea-total. That is, you could be clean and sober without drinking just tea or coffee, because alcohol was, and is, a drug that many people can handle in moderation.

Speaking for myself, I've never had a problem with alcohol. I enjoy a couple of beers with friends, and I've been known to have gin-and-tonics, and I even like whiskey on the rocks (from Tennessee, if you plan on giving me a birthday present!). But the few times when I've had a little more than I should, while I've always happily given up my car keys, and not called old girlfriends to say, "I miss you..!", I've felt so gawd-awful the next day, with a headache, and stomachache, that I wonder about people who can deal with that on a regular basis. I'm just not that tough, I guess!

Alcohol consumption in old-time Phoenix was common. Yes, some people frowned on it, but most people just considered it part of life. Of course, there were always people who couldn't control it, who would slide down a slippery slope if they just took one drink, but most people weren't like that. Having a glass of whiskey and walking away, or having a beer or two and continuing to work was just considered normal for a working man. A man could be clean and sober and still take a drink every once in a while.

Times have changed, and you'd be wise to not have an open bottle of whiskey in your car, or have breath that reeks of beer when you're talking to a police officer, but in old-time Phoenix that wouldn't have been such a big deal. Yes, of course Garfias, or Hayden would throw you into the hoosegow if you were staggering drunk, but otherwise they'd just tell you to go home. And they probably wouldn't bother with you at all unless you started doing something stupid like shooting up the Central Hotel ceiling, or taking potshots at the statue up on top of the Capitol Building, in order to make it spin around.

I've been lucky. My parents, back in Minneapolis, were clean and sober. Yes, my dad would have a beer after work, and there was always wine in the refrigerator in the basement, but it was never seen as something terrible. As a kid, and a teenager, I had no interest in that stuff. When I went off to college I knew a lot of people who got in terrible trouble with alcohol, especially beer, but that really didn't interest me. I taught myself to drink beer in my mid-twenties just to help me to socialize. It was an acquired taste for me, and now I enjoy the taste of it, especially at the Chuckbox, with a Big Juan burger.

So, yes, I could time-travel back to old-time Phoenix, walk into the Central Hotel, order a shot or two of whiskey, and get on with my day. I could take the bottle home with me, maybe carry it in my saddlebags, and have a nip before I fell asleep that night. And I would still consider myself clean and sober.
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