When Addiction Affects Your Job

I tell a raw story about how drinking derails my first gig with a mobile DJ company and costs me the job before it even starts. 

I break down the excuses, the anxiety, and the shame that show up when alcohol runs the schedule, then I ask you to share your own work fallout. 

• Alcohol and addiction affecting jobs, relationships, and daily life 
• Leaving club DJ to escape the party environment 
• A first mobile DJ gig at a university pub event 
• One drink turning into a night of heavy drinking 
• Waking up hungover and using the flu excuse 
• Boss trying to help by setting up equipment 
• Hair of the dog leading back to drunkenness 
• Ignoring calls and the boss showing up at the door 
• Losing the job and naming it as a consequence of addiction 

Leave a comment.

We can choose to give in to the KAOS, or we can forge a new path forward!

Transcript

Friday Check In And Story Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Happy Friday everyone. Thanks for tuning in to another Pure Chaos. This morning we're going to do more of a story. Life story.

Alcohol’s Ripple Effect On Life

SPEAKER_00 0:10

So with alcoholism and just addiction in general, it really affects, you know, our life. You know, it can affect our job, relationships, all that shit. So this is a story of one of those times that alcohol affected my job.

A New DJ Job In Edmonton

SPEAKER_00 0:29

I was probably mid-twenties at the time, and I'd kind of transitioned from DJing clubs because I was trying to get out of that environment. Because you know, it was just party, party, party. And I was living in Edmonton at the time, and so I had taken a gig where I was gonna be doing uh mobile DJing for parties, weddings, etc. Anywho! I get this job with his company. I'm very excited, you know, they supply all the equipment, even though I had all my own mobile stuff. I figured, you know, if I don't have to use my own shit, all the better. So I get the job and I have my first gig. You know, he tells me a week in advance, okay, you're gonna be doing this. It was a uh university party for kind of like a grad party for the university of uh U of A, I believe, in Edmonton. Anyways, one of those big universities. He was gonna be on White Ave at this pub. You know, I was like, oh, this is gonna be fun, this is gonna be great. It was on a Saturday, so I was like, perfect, and I got a week. What could go wrong?

One Drink Turns Into A Night Out

SPEAKER_00 1:31

So Friday, the night before I had the the gig, um, decided, you know, I was just gonna have a drink, you know, just to let loose on a Friday. Now, prior to me having that drink, I knew that Saturday morning I was gonna be busy as fuck because I'd have to go pick up all the equipment, go to the pub, set it all up, and kind of be ready for I think it was like three or four o'clock, right? That I would start kind of people start trickling in. So four o'clock, I had to have everything set up and ready. So let's say a 10 a.m. start. So I'm like, yeah, I can do this, I can do this. So Friday night, you know, that one drink, of course, turns to two, turns to three, and I don't quite remember exactly, but I ended up going out somewhere to, you know, figured, hey, I'm not gonna drink by myself if I go to a bar, and at that time, blues on white was kind of like my little go-to because it was a casual atmosphere. So let's fast forward past Friday, because I think we all know what the fuck happened with that night.

The Morning After And The Flu Lie

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Saturday morning, I wake up, don't know what time it was, but I was feeling like death. Hung right the fuck over. You know that where you just have that you can't even you couldn't even spell your name if someone was offering you a million dollars. So of course I know right off the bat, I'm not making it to do this job today. So I text my boss and just tell him, you know, hey, I just woke up, I'm not feeling good, right? I've got a flu. How many times have we used that excuse, eh? And I think, hey, I'll just tell him I have the flu and you know he'll it'll be good. He'll say, Don't worry about it, you're good, right? So I text him and he uh texts back pretty much immediately and says, Oh, no worries. What I can do to help you out is I'll have the equipment all set up and ready for you. So you just have to go at three o'clock and just yeah, just everything will be set up. Just go and DJ. I'm like, oh fuck. I'm like, okay, sure, sure, that that'll work. So I'm like, okay, sure, I'll see how I feel. Well, by this point, you know, I'm getting those cold chills. I'm like, I got the shake going on a bit. I'm like, fuck, okay, well, like I always do when I go and party, I always

Hair Of The Dog And Spiraling

SPEAKER_00 3:52

make sure I buy some liquor for in the fridge for the next day, you know. So I figured, hey, I'll just have one. Kind of hair of the dog, take the edge off, and uh I'm like, okay, if I have one or two, I have like, you know, five, six hours to left to go, I'll be fine. Needless to say, I ended up kind of having a few drinks, and I felt right back to the drunkenness. Like it just took me right back to probably like that 20th drink. So at this point, I just I know that uh I'm not fucking making it at all. So I text my boss again, and I'm like, hey, you know what? I'm still not feeling that great, so I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it. Well, he messages back and says, You are gonna make it. Everything's gonna be set up for you. So be there at three. So I'm like, oh fuck, right? Like I have all this anxiety now, like, oh fuck. But I'm like, you know what? Fuck it. Like, I'm just not gonna go. I'm just not gonna go. So, where I lived in Edmonton at the time was in this like condo complex, main floor. Um, so you know, three o'clock rolls around, right? I'm pretty fucking hammered, I'm enjoying some drinks, figuring I'm in the clear, everything's good. Phone starts ringing, my boss

Skipping The Gig And Ignoring Calls

SPEAKER_00 5:05

is calling me. Over and over and over. So I just ignore, ignore, ignore. He's texting, he's like, Where are you? Where the fuck are you? I think I'll just ignore the phone and it'll be fine. He'll, you know, eventually just realize like I'm not fucking going, so whatever. Right? Worst case I get fired, wouldn't be the first time. Well, fast forward about an hour. I'm sitting in my living room, all of a sudden I hear the doorbell ring. I'm like, oh fuck, right? We didn't have ring cams back then, so I have no idea who the fuck was at the door, but I had a pretty good fucking idea. So luckily my blinds were shut because when you're drinking by yourself in shame, you know, you don't want the world to see. So blinds are shut, luckily. But I could see the shadow kind of through the blinds. I knew it was him, right? So he's fucking banging on the door, he's ringing a doorbell, and I'm like frozen in my living room, like fuck maybe, you know, like what the fuck. Obviously, I you know, I'm sitting on the couch, I didn't move, you know, and he's fucking yelling. I if you're in there, I know you're in there, just get your ass

Boss Shows Up At The Door

SPEAKER_00 6:06

to the fucking door, get to like go to the fucking I'm like, fuck, whatever. So I just ignored it. After about 10 minutes, he finally left. During this time, I had so much anxiety. I honestly thought I was gonna have a panic attack. Because I was like, oh my god, right? So you know that should have been it for me. I should have just stopped drinking that day and been like, nope. But instead he left. I felt like, hey, I dodged a bullet. So I can't continue drinking. Obviously, lost that job before I even started. And uh, that's just one of the times that alcohol had uh really fucked up my my life in the means of my job. Uh

Fallout, Questions, And Encouragement

SPEAKER_00 6:43

so yeah, that's my story time for today. What's uh have you ever had alcohol affect your work? Uh mainly have you ever lost a job because of drinking or just your addiction in general? Leave a comment. Anyways, have a good Friday, everyone. Have a nice sober weekend. And remember, if you're still struggling with addiction, you are not alone. Have a great one, everyone.