Vancouverites are quick to flock to beaches, parks and patios at any hint of summer but, for some recovering alcoholics, the higher than average temperatures hitting B.C. this weekend aren’t necessarily grounds for celebration.
Colleen, the manager of Vancouver’s central office for Alcoholics Anonymous, is 18 years sober but says that people have a tendency to not want to stop drinking when it’s summer. (She asked that her last name not be used.)
“It’s just not really a convenient time. A cold beer on a hot day is always nice, right?”
And hot days are definitely in the forecast. Meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau expects temperatures to be 10 degrees higher than average for this time of year. Interior regions such as Kamloops will enjoy summer-like temperatures of nearly 30°.
It will be cooler on the coast and while Const. Jason Doucette of the Vancouver Police Department recommends people enjoy their libations on one of Vancouver’s many patios in order to avoid the $230 fine for public drinking, a number of recovering alcoholics in the service industry struggle to overcome the hurdle that summer weather imposes.
“It’s nonstop busy during this season at work,” says Tyler, a recovering addict and server who also asked that his last name not be used. “It can be crazy and really high demand but when I finish work I can’t cope with a drink.”
He says that’s where the AA program has helped. He can surround himself with people who help him resist the warm weather temptations and stay on the sober path. The challenges of alcohol consumption being normalized, and even encouraged, during the summer are often discussed at meetings.
“Their minds start thinking of that rationalization of ‘Well it’s summer, everyone else is doing it, it’s out in plain view, maybe I should start drinking again.’”
Colleen says the meetings she attends see an increase in the mantra “Don’t turn your trip into a flip.” Flip refers to when someone who has been sober for a long time returns to drinking.
“Usually around major holidays like the May long weekend or July 1, people tend to go on a major rampage that makes them realize now is a really good time to stop,” says Colleen, who adds that their loved ones and family members usually call them out on their behaviour.
Andy Crimp had to fire two of his staff last Canada Day after they were caught drinking while serving the patio.
“Obviously, addiction is a case-by-case basis,” says Crimp who says he is one of six staff who identify as recovering alcoholics. “I can go and sit on a patio and watch people get wasted and I have no interest in it.”
“I’ve found a drink in a snowstorm and hurricane,” says Colleen, adding that while summer poses a lot of visual triggers, anyone who doesn’t want to stay sober can easily drink regardless of the weather.
At this point in Tyler’s sobriety, he equates serving alcohol to how vegetarians who work in restaurants can still serve people who order meat.
“It’s just an object at this point. Sobriety allows me to feel more emotions and enjoy the vitamin D that summer brings,” Tyler says. “But if people know that summer is a trigger for them, they should reach out to their support system.”
