I say go easy on the gentleman.
Friend of yours?
I was kiddin' of course, but on a serious note --
Coulda been. I lived up there a lot of years, mostly on the north shore, though. A lot of the guys I knew as jocks and construction workers back in our 20s lived a little too hard and neither found an easier way to make a living nor managed to avoid the ravages of substance abuse and increasing loneliness as they aged. By the time they reached their 50s, some were looking like that. Sadly, I've known at least a half dozen who are no longer roaming the planet -- all of whom were the picture of health, virility, athleticism and vitality 20 to 35 years ago. We all had the pretty girls, the winters skiing every other day, fast pitch softball, golf, the Lake and every kind of active sport imaginable in the mountains.
I left to get a graduate degree in August '81, but have always yearned to be able to have back the days before that change -- it was the best lifestyle in the best place on the planet to live back then. I went back as a professional from '88 to '95, and have remained connected through the local golf course I represent and hang out at when I'm there. But in the stories and mental pictures of many of those friends who stayed on and stagnated when they should have moved on, I've come to realize how lucky I was to have had the opportunity and to have made the decision to move on. It was a blessing partly in disguise. I know some real sad stories about how lonely it can be for many who overstay their time at the bar and in the fields of youth. There but for the grace of God (and some little spark) go I.
Now, I'm not sure I know anyone who woulda been into the rectal vibrator and meth practice, but I wouldn't have been interested enough to ask, either. :huh: