Tony is trying to recover from food poisoning. Antibiotics with percocet does NOT mix with moonshine. He had his farewell dinner tonight with his Chinese colleagues. I asked him to let them know that he was just in the emergency room for food poisoning and CANNOT drink. He did not. He walked in tonight and is now paying the consequences for consuming "baijiu". For those who don't know, baijiu is a Chinese distilled alcoholic beverage. The name baijiu literally means "white liquor," "white alcohol" or "white spirits". Baijiu is often mistakenly translated as "wine" or "white wine", but it is actually a distilled liquor, generally about 80 to 120 proof. The stuff is like diesel fuel. I haven't met anyone who actually likes the taste of this stuff. Most people consume it and will wrench their faces and scream out as it goes down. So, you can probably feel Tony's pain right about now.The Chinese drink this stuff specifically to get spectacularly plastered. It's often done with the chanting of "ganbei" which means "dry glass" to show machismo, friendship and camaraderie. This stuff goes straight to your head, faces turn red and the eyes water. It's not uncommon to find people carried out of buildings completely unconscious from consuming this stuff. So, I am now witnessing first hand what baijiu can do to you and I have to thank Tony's colleagues at ATC for their farewell gift to me.
