[peteforde]

Creepy and fascinating story. Thanks for sharing.

I do have two questions, though:

1. Polaroid wasn't making a black and white integral film in 1980, and FujiFilm didn't make instant film until 1981. Kodak's instant film was color. So how did Kraft produce an instant B+W image?

2. Did you really drink 2-3 beers and then get on a motorbike?

[pudakai]

1) I really don't know. Maybe he had a stockpile? Maybe it really was color, but the room was somewhat dark/shaded, and I'm only remembering/assuming it as B&W?

2) We used to do a lot, lot, lot worse than that in the USMC in those pre-MADD days. Different era.

Fun fact - same motorcycle, I was struck by lightning on it several months later, riding home from California (to Ga) on I-70 in Missouri. This was following my discharge (actually, end of active service) in late August.

[coolsunglasses]

I don't know the timespan in the story, 2-3 beers over the course of several hours results in a terminal state that is best described as sober for somebody with a marine's physical profile.

[ars_technician]

The fact that you are surprised by 2-3 beers is fascinating. Social stigma is definitely powerful enough that the younger generations completely overestimate the effects of alcohol.

2-3 beers over the length of time in the story would leave you well below the legal limit and your motor skills would not be impaired unless you never have alcohol, which he clearly stated wasn't the case.

Tldr. Cut the melodrama. It's like being shocked when someone has a beer and walks down some stairs.