If you want to subscribe to LOL Sober, hit the purple button below. I’m mostly publishing free pieces but I am hoping to generate a few bucks to pay for my web site and some other costs. Paid subscribers do have access to frequent premium pieces—such as THIS comedy special about my 10 favorite addiction/sobriety jokes!

I was listening to a podcast recently where the hosts discussed who the worst person in the Game of Thrones universe was. That included the older tv show, Game of Thrones itself, but also subsequent parts of the GOT universe like House of the Dragon, which I am currently watching.

There were plenty of villain candidates, that’s for sure. But the thing that ultimately jumped out at me was that the true villain of the show ended up not being the White Walker demon zombies or whatever the f**k they were, or Joffrey, or any other actual living thing: It was the throne.

The throne was what caused so much anger, death, revenge, lust, moral decay and a slew of other horrific things. Everybody wanted to sit on that throne, in a giant, cold room, more than anything else. They wanted that power, and they usually wanted it because they wanted it, not because they had noble intentions for what to do with it.

Now is the throne from Game of Thrones the same as opioid or alcohol addiction? Not really. One is a piece of furniture and the other two are substances that will alter your mind.

But the general concept is interesting: I gave away my soul to get drugs and alcohol every day, and I knew I was doing it. I could feel myself sliding all the time. And that’s what happens in Game of Thrones, too. So many of the people who eventually get to sit in the Iron Throne end up with mixed feelings about it.

I will also say that I have seen people get sober but become enamored with someone or something powerful, then their addictive self just ends up chasing that the same way they did drugs and alcohol. I’ve seen it with people chasing romantic partners, people chasing job promotions, chasing money, you name it… power can be an addictive thing, too.

Thank God I found a rehab and went and got clean. I wish I could go back in time to sit with the Baratheons and Starks and Valyrians and encouraged them all to seek treatment… a few more million fictional people might be alive today!

This newsletter is a place of joy and laughter about the deadly serious business of sobriety. So, as I will often do, let me close with a joke:

After a night of hard drinking, a drunk pulls out his cell phone and calls the police to report a robbery in his car. “They’ve stolen the dashboard, the steering wheel, the brake pedal, even the accelerator!” he cries.

But before the police can respond, they get another call, and the same voice comes on the line. “Never mind,” says the drunk. “I got into the back seat by mistake.”

(Credit: AA Grapevine, March 2003, Anthony F.)

Please spread the word to a sober friend! Find me on Substack… or Twitter… or Facebook… or Instagram… or YouTube. And introducing my web site, LOLsober.com.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nelsonh.substack.com/subscribe