Curious Mental Phenomenon

You may think this an extreme case. To us it is not far-fetched, for this kind of thinking has been characteristic of every single one of us. We have sometimes reflected more than Jim did upon the consequences. But there was always the curious mental phenomenon that parallel with our sound reasoning there inevitably ran some insanely trivial excuse for taking the first drink. ~ Alcoholics Anonymous, page 37

Reflected more than Jim did?
More than figuring even though
his alcoholism had been proven,
he’s seen the light, accepted the message,
yet still he figured with his keen alcoholic mind
he could put an ounce of whiskey in milk
because his stomach was full
and besides, there was the milk,
that it couldn’t hurt. Three times
in quick succession…
I can drink alcohol then leave it be,
sitting in the pantry for years on end.
But a stale doughnut? A new Blizzard flavor?
Half a piece of pie left on a plate to be washed…
Why wouldn’t you eat it? Let it go to waste? Hell’s bells!
There’s a king of perverse satisfaction
in coming up with a new excuse, the logic ingenious,
something so innovative nobody’s ever said no
and get what we wanted all along
despite the insanity of the act.