Drunk before Friday As I sit at my desk, attempting to make it look like I am diligently at work, my cell phone rings.

For all intents and purposes (read: anonymity), the caller was Fi Fi LaReu. Drunk. On a Wednesday. Afternoon.

It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I would have preferred to be anywhere but my desk. Especially if "anywhere" involved a bar.

Well, Fi Fi had gone to lunch, and from her own admission, consumed three "big ass" martinis. Not a problem if your next destination is home. But when you then have to make sales calls the rest of the afternoon, it might prove to be a bit daunting. But instead of heeding suggestions to find a Waffle House to chow down on classic drunk food like the hash browns, she insisted that she liked it and would find a liquor store to be able to maintain the buzz she had obtained at lunch throughout the remainder of the day.

Needless to say, it's always fun to have conversations with drunk people when you're the sober one. The worst part of the entire scenario is not the intoxication, but rather the fact that she had reached a point where she was drinking alone. Due to the confines of my office, I couldn't even join her in spirit over the phone. I still had to punch the clock before there would be any imbibing.

I think this was just a pre-game warm-up for the upcoming festivities of St. Patrick's Day.

Probably one of the better phone calls I have ever received while on the job.

It sure beats those "drunk dials", when a drunk friend of yours decides that 3 A.M. on a Tuesday is a good time to call and "chat".  ¶ 12:41 AM