If I thought I was miserable now, that would be nothing compared with the misery of becoming an alcoholic and then having to get off alcohol, which I figured I would have to do at some point. When I was in seclusion at the institute, getting off cigarettes had been painful, and I thought getting off alcohol would probably be even worse. So I decided to come up with a rule that I kept all the way until I was forty: No drinking alcohol when alone.
