Singapore Sling

Illustration: Advert for Hall’s Coca Wine: The Elixir of Life (ca. 1916)

In my first corporate job I sat at a desk facing Brenda, who sat at a desk across the aisle from me. Brenda was fun. She was always in a good mood, and had a slightly snarky sense of humor that kept me entertained as we commented to each other about each day's events.

One day we went to lunch at a restaurant she liked. It was one of those places where businessmen go to laugh heartily about wheeling and dealing, but with a light menu that would also appeal to their wives and mistresses. I was young and inexperienced, and had never had a cocktail at lunch. Brenda suggested Singapore Slings. That was a tasty drink!

I ordered some French-sounding pasta dish, and over the course of lunch, at Brenda's urging, we had two more rounds of drinks. I don't remember who drove back to the office, but it had to be one of us.

Back at our desks, if anyone had gotten within two feet of either of us, they'd have smelled the alcohol. Smelling alcohol on people in that office wasn't unusual. It was that kind of place.

After a woozy afternoon of being embarrassungly aware that I wasn't in any condition to do work, I realized that drinking at lunch wasn't a smart choice for me.

I still liked Brenda, and when she asked me to come to dinner with her and some other people frtom the office, I was happy to go.

There was a restaurant about half a mile away that was popular with our co-workers. It had a bar that was in a separate room. The idea was to have drinks in the bar, then walk through the double door into the restaurant for dinner. Five of us sat in a booth. I had a glass of wine. I don't remember what kind of drinks everyone else had. As we finished our drinks, I expected to get up and move inside for dinner, but they all ordered another round. I was hungry, and when I couldn't persuade them that they were hungry, too, I left.

I still liked Brenda, but I didn't go places with her much after that. I learned that she was divorced, with a child at home. She often ended up paying the babysitter extra because she was late getting home fom the bar after work, and on those nights she would bring home McDonald's for the child's dinner. When she went straight home, she liked to stop and buy a six-pack and drink it in the car.

Brenda took a leave of absence to spend a month in a rehab center. When I saw her again she told me a story about how she and her roommate snuck out at night to walk to a liquor store.

She said, "The counselor told us that you know you're an alcoholic if you'd rather drink than eat."

"Which would you rather do?" I asked.

"Drink," she said.

In an effort to stay sober while still indulging her nostalgic cravings, she started buying a six-pack of non-alcoholic beer to drink on the way home.

I don't know what finally happened to Brenda. She left her job, and we didn't stay in touch. I haven't had a Singapore Sling in years.