Tweeker, a term used for a person who often uses methamphetamines.
Ok, so I have to associate myself with the 'political asylum' a little bit. Granted, I have never been sent there… but arguments like that are best done in person; so, back to the association. I am friends with this guy named Alex W. (from school); and he is one of those guys who sells underground newspapers and literature about what is going on in other countries etc. (with obvious socialist leanings of course). So one day Alex was talking to these two other guys, and while walking by I waved. Alex waved me down, and said "Hey, you have to meet these guys". Ok, so I walk over and meet them; guy X is no longer important because, well… I don’t talk to him. But, I do talk to Phil, Phil is the name of the other guy that Alex wanted me to meet.
I don’t know why I talk to Phil, well, I take that back. I don’t know why I started talking to Phil. Maybe it was his funny hair (it was black and pinkish striped. He later shaved it off), or maybe his pants (he has those fun raver/bondage pants that look good on guys)… or maybe it was his funky '70's glasses; whatever it was, I still talk to Phil. I learned some interesting things about him, like that he use to live in Portland Oregon, and has a little brother, and that he use to be really heavy in the rave scene in Portland, no surprises there.
Ok, so what does this have to do with tweeking? Well, hold on, I am getting there. Ok, So Phil was really heavy into the rave scene. He use to frequent this coffee shop (yes, a raver coffee shop), where you could get refills on your 22 oz coffee for like $.50 he said. He said he would sit there and drink coffee until the owner of the store finally cut him off; at like 6 or 7 cups. He told me he would get the shakes if he didn’t have his coffee and I laughed at him. Mind you he was telling me this story at 10 am, while holding a 20 oz bottle of Mountain Dew. So, he told me he was a caffeine addict, and that he use to use it to get through all of his homework, his job, and going dancing etc (on top of various drugs, you can just tell). It got to the point where he wouldn't sleep so he would drink coffee or pop instead, and his friends took to calling him "Tweeker" when they saw him, because he acted like he was on meth from all the caffeine in his system. He told me that at that moment he knew he needed to do something and that he had a problem. Again, I laughed. "It took you that long to figure it out?!" He said he cut back on his caffeine intake, whilst taking a swig of Mountain Dew.
I walked away from Phil, and to my class shaking my head and chuckling slightly. Yes, this story disturbs me slightly, but it is also mildly amusing. *shrugs* I don’t think he would mind if I told him that caffeine addicts die young. He has that type of personality that I don’t think it would bother him knowing.
Here is to your health Phil.