Lex, Death and the Blue Devil Hoochie Juice

 

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Introduction and why you shouldn't read this book

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My candle burns at both ends;

It will not last the night;

but, ah, my foes, and oh, my friends –

It gives a lovely light.

Edna St Vincent-Millay

 

 

Men and women drink mainly because they like the effect produced by alcohol.

William D. Silkworth M.D. (1939)

 

 

INTRODUCTION

This is a slightly peculiar book and I wouldn’t bother reading it if you’re under eighteen.  Or if you don’t know what fractals are.  Or if you haven’t seen any pictures of them.  Or if they don’t fill you with wonder.  Not that Lex is advocating the ingestion of unsuitable amounts of psychedelic pharmaceuticals; although once upon a time... he would have.  If you’re over thirty and spent any time in far north Queensland he might even have sold you some.  Although that is unlikely and it’s not his real name. 

This book is actually, probably not that peculiar at all because it is merely a combination of academic peer reviewed research in which I assisted, and more or less verbatim transcripts of interviews with a sober alcoholic named Lex (not his real name).  These interviews were conducted around the same time I was interviewing people at the front line of dealing with alcohol-related assaults: emergency department nurses and doctors, venue door staff and security, police officers and CCTV operators.  Somehow, their stories led me to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.  That's where I met Lex. 

Lex (not his real name) has an interesting story of fun, laughter, friendship, good times, parties, regaining consciousness while standing in a place he does not know while wearing looks of disfain and contempt from people he does, homelessness, suicide attempts, self-loathing, isolation and vomiting blood.  He called himself a liar a cheat and a con artist and I believe every word he said to me.   He showed me the scars that matched the stories.  He showed me the townhouse on the esplanade at Clifton Beach.  He showed me his ten year old hospital wristband.  And he told me that today his life depends on being honest.  I believed that too. Patly because of the books on his bookshelf, but mostlly because he displayed rare humility and compassion.  People with his standards of responsibility are scarce.  Plus, he could be as funny as a bulldog eating custard.

In contrast, my part begins with the words, “How many alcohol-related assaults occur in the late-night entertainment precinct in Cairns?  This simple question is not easy to answer.  A significant proportion of reported assault offences, as well as presentations to hospital emergency departments occur as a result of assaults in geographically small late-night entertainment precincts.” 

After that the style settles down a bit (thank you Douglas A.) and I try to incorporate our field research from the Cairns Base Hospital Emergency Department, the Council’s CCTV room, the pubs and the police station.  This book, which is sounding less and less peculiar and more and more boring, will also include a broad sweep of the literature regarding alcohol-related harm, specifically assault.  I’ve published a few academic papers on the subject, and am in the process of finalising my PhD for submission, so there will be some interesting facts and perspectives from me as well.  Nothing like the bits of carrot on a Persian rug gems Lex-style though.

The chapters alternate between academic research and the interviews with the sober alcoholic.  I am uploading this as I go so it is a first draft, but the index is below.  Chapter Six is the part where the Alcohol & Other Drugs nurse in the Cairns Base Hospital told Lex he would not have been able to be revived if the ambulance had reached him ninety seconds later.  At the time, they day after they brought him out of a six day coma, he was unable to speak. After I first heard the details I had to sit down and have a stiff drink myself.   

And, yes, if you think that’s a cynical teaser I won’t insult your intelligence by writing anything sensible further here. 

Except that paramedics and ambo's and nurses and doctors and police are genuinely heroic, and the CCTV operators I've interviewed in eight cities across Australia genuinely care about people 's safety, and two venue owners and security providers in Cairns were very helpful and professional.  Lex wants to thank Mystic Medusa for the phrase, "Blue Devil Hoochie Juice."  And he insisted on pointing out that bulldog and custard thing - that's one of his.

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List of Chapters

Chapter 1 – How many Alcohol Related Assaults occur in the late night entertainment precinct in Cairns, tropical Australia?

Chapter 2 – Lex’s story

Chapter 3 – The Evidence Base for Reducing Assaults in and Around Licensed Premises

Chapter 4 – Lex’s Childhood (And that First Drink)

Chapter 5 – Defining the Cairns late night entertainment precinct

Chapter 6 – Lex’s Recovery (The Doctor's Opinion)

Chapter 7 - Quiet Heroes

Chapter 8 – More About Alcoholism (or Trying to Drink while Vomiting and Coping with Sporadic Diahorrea)

Chapter 5 – The Emergency Department

Chapter 6 – Controlled Smoking ( or Wisps of Dignity)

Chapter 7 - Bouncers

Chapter 8 – That First Meeting (or The Unfamiliar Sensation of Hope)

Chapter 9 – Police

Chapter 10 – Abstraction and Empathy

Chapter 11 – The Cairns Closed Circuit Television system

Chapter 12 – How it Works (Yeah, How it Works)

Chapter 13 – An ecological view of these assaults in Cairns

Chapter 14 – Rock Bottom (or Public Diahorrea was the Least of my Problems)

Chapter 15 – An Approximate Dollar Cost of These Assaults to a Queensland Taxpayer

Chapter 16 – That Second First Meeting  

Chapter 17 – An Approximate Dollar Saving for Each Assault Prevented

Chapter 18 – Yet More About Alcoholism (or It’s Hard to Laugh When Your Throat's Been Cut)

Chapter 19 –  A Living Network Approach to Alcohol-Related Assaults in the Cairns CBD - a Realist scientific approach

Chapter 20 –  The Chapter of the Way of Lex’s Virtue (or The Tao Te Lex)

Chapter 21 –  Resentments and acknowledgements

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