As many revelations do, mine began with an online quiz. I was sitting on the couch, listening to the fizz of my kombucha on the coffee table. Do you look forward to your first nonalcoholic drink of the day? I kept scrolling, trying not to think about last Friday at 4 P.M., when a “quick turnaround” e-mail appeared in my in-box and I longed for the instant release of my first sip of tarragon-infused sparkling water. I scrolled back up. Does not drinking interfere with your relationships? I couldn’t help but remember my sister asking on Saturday night if she could open a beer, her toddler propped on her hip, or the friends who I now hang out with only in the context of movie-watching, so that we don’t have to make sober conversation.
“Whatever,” I told myself. “If my friends and family don’t want to not drink with me, that’s on them.” But then I swiped to the next question: Do you feel comfortable only when spending time with people who aren’t drinking? And I had to admit to feeling “seen,” which, honestly, really made me want a Shirley Temple.
Denne historien er fra May 15, 2023-utgaven av The New Yorker.
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Denne historien er fra May 15, 2023-utgaven av The New Yorker.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
YULE RULES
“Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point.”
COLLISION COURSE
In Devika Rege’ first novel, India enters a troubling new era.
NEW CHAPTER
Is the twentieth-century novel a genre unto itself?
STUCK ON YOU
Pain and pleasure at a tattoo convention.
HEAVY SNOW HAN KANG
Kyungha-ya. That was the entirety of Inseon’s message: my name.
REPRISE
Reckoning with Donald Trump's return to power.
WHAT'S YOUR PARENTING-FAILURE STYLE?
Whether you’re horrifying your teen with nauseating sex-ed analogies or watching TikToks while your toddler eats a bagel from the subway floor, face it: you’re flailing in the vast chasm of your child’s relentless needs.
COLOR INSTINCT
Jadé Fadojutimi, a British painter, sees the world through a prism.
THE FAMILY PLAN
The pro-life movement’ new playbook.
President for Sale - A survey of today's political ads.
On a mid-October Sunday not long ago sun high, wind cool-I was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for a book festival, and I took a stroll. There were few people on the streets-like the population of a lot of capital cities, Harrisburg's swells on weekdays with lawyers and lobbyists and legislative staffers, and dwindles on the weekends. But, on the façades of small businesses and in the doorways of private homes, I could see evidence of political activity. Across from the sparkling Susquehanna River, there was a row of Democratic lawn signs: Malcolm Kenyatta for auditor general, Bob Casey for U.S. Senate, and, most important, in white letters atop a periwinkle not unlike that of the sky, Kamala Harris for President.
