Shiny happy people ... till moonshine strikes

Whats with this liquid? This Acidic, Acerbic bile churning thing we called liquor. It makes this sober guy a whimpering, whining mongrel. I can understand pent up stuff coming out after a few drinks. I am used to that. But what pisses me off is that it acts as an excuse to make fools of ourselves.Recently i happened to stay a couple of days with a friends acquaintance while on the road. This guy was a senior govt official and he worked in a high capacity, something that was evident in his drinking. A personable gentleman, cheerful and composed. He talked about his work with a lot of josh(enthusiastic frevor) and was very upbeat. He was gloating about his wife, who also worked for a govt. agency and her achievements. He went on and on lovingly about his son that for a few moments i could imagine actually being in his place, his kid in my arms and his wife by my side.. He painted such a lovely picture around him that i got this feeling that he was one shiny happy person. Michael stipe was possibly singing about his type.But all this was in the daytime.Moonshine (It was a more refined version from Seagrams') struck in the evening and my new found buddy simply tore to shreds the picture he had painted in the morning. His life was suddenly filled with so much misery that I wanted to almost run away from there. The hundred pipers blowing in ears didnt allow me to though. He could not stand his bosses, his work was ridden with politics, and his team was filled with stupid people. Just in the morning they were described as the best team he had worked with. His wife was very demanding and would not accept for a transfer. She was always asking for some help for her family. Frankly I thought thats what families were there for. To ask for help. His bright n lively son was being adamant and not taking up activities that his daddy would like. Common' Give that kid a break - he is just 4.At the end of his inebriated diatribe, most of the pipers had left and i was somewhere between High n Dry. The mistake i made was i was shaking and nodding my head, when he was speaking, but it was too late to explain that my head bangings were because of the liquid i had consumed and not the flowing story (or stories!!) of his. The shocker is he back to his shiny happy persona back in the morning. I had a hangover though. One bitten twice shy? No way, when you have a smirnoff twist staring at you the second evening. Moonshine struck again.In a way its a good thing I keep my ears sharp and tongue still when i drink. Otherwise my drinking partner wouldve posted a similar story. Cheers!