But Is It Funny?

One thing really distinguishes the alkie. . .and that is his sense of humor. It is a particular sense of humor, a nice sense of humor in which he himself is the source, the butt, and the main theme of the fun. He sustains himself--and alkies--with the anecdotes of his alcoholic insanity. He finds no shame in telling of the hidden bottle, and how he ran out of hiding places. Yes, it's true. We all recall the desperate search for a new hideout, how we explored and exhausted the woodshed, the hydrangeas, the old coats at the back of the cupboard, the unsuspected privacy of the water meter, the cistern. We were so brilliant at times we figured we should have taken up chess; we knew so many moves. We'd trick 'em by leaving the bottle in an obvious place this time, behind the settee or the couch, behind the books. Brilliant, until we were confronted with the damn thing.