Wrong Side of the Tracks

“Don’t get caught on the wrong side of the tracks”, was an expression I grew up with that simply meant stay away from the bars, strip joints and other dens of iniquity where “here be monsters”. The problem with my drinking was that I rarely knew what side of the tracks I was actually on let alone how I got there.

Wrong/right side never seemed to sink in with me; I did however learn that in between the tracks was definitely taboo while still a teenager after busting my head open to the tune of about 20 Frankenstein stitches. These were caused by a drunken sprint up the tracks while fleeing the police after a bootleg vodka buy. What a kind old lady was doing selling cheap vodka to kids too young to drive is for another story; by the way, she had us call her grandmother if you can believe that!

Now here’s a news story sent in by TDA reader Anna (thanks Anna) about another drunk falling in between the tracks.

Kalimuthu, who is 5’5″ and 180 pounds, added the victim was a “heavy guy, about 180 pounds. But I looked and no train was coming, so we had a little time.” After lifting him up in a “fireman’s carry,” Kalimuthu passed the passed out man (apparently drunk!) to someone on the platform. ~ Gothamist.com

Click “Read more” to continue…

While a man basically passing out drunk and falling down on the subway tracks is relevant to our story, Anna provided another link that made me go hmmm.

Daniel, who did not want his last name revealed “because he is a recovering alcoholic,” said that though he was drunk when he fell off the platform on March 14, he was headed to detox (note: Daniel says treatment). ~Gothamist.com

On his way to treatment, Daniel said the last thing he remembers is reaching down for a quarter before collapsing onto the tracks breaking ribs, vertebrae, and his coccyx. First things first, I am glad the man is alive and thank goodness for Samaritans that are willing to take action beyond dialing 911.

I will also tender my advance apology in case Daniel is a statistical anomaly, an alcoholic capable of telling the truth.

Let’s start with the phrase “on my way to treatment”, now that’s rather misleading when you are speaking of the revolving door detox of St. Lukes and that’s even giving him the benefit of the doubt that he’s not lying in the first place. Going to treatment definitely sounds better than “in a drunken daze oblivious to my surroundings”, yet since I and many others have uttered the same “imminent” status of treatment I doubt the veracity of his claim. Same thing goes for the quarter, probably just another lie to ease his own conscious over his public collapse. Been there, done that- I personally have passed out both in the middle of a parking lot and dead center of the road in a suburban neighborhood. Both times I made up lies as if any excuse could make dead drunk sound less than shamefully embarrassing.

I am sure many think that I am dissecting this guy’s story with glee, but this is definitely not the case. If nothing else I share this guy’s pain (except the broke tailbone) having similar such experiences.

No, the reason why I do these things is to increase the awareness of both alcoholics and those that love them of the painful reality of this disease. Occurrences like this are commonplace, and often reported just as accidents when the true cause is substance abuse and addiction. This guy did more than endanger himself, he endangered all those that helped him. And just go ahead and get used to the lying part because I cannot say this enough. Alcoholics and addicts lie constantly- even when it’s not necessary. It is a symptom of the disease. This guy was on the wrong side of the tracks because he is an alcoholic, no other explanation is necessary.

I’ll give him a TDA salute for surviving and a prayer that the step off the platform, albeit painful, was his first on the road to recovery.