Jammed together at lunch. Not a drinker, nevertheless I experience a distinct alteration of consciousness in the presence of others--socially, but even in the classroom or seminar--a heightening, livening, intensifying sensation--a kind of euphoria. (Would the drinkers attain the same heights, without drinking? But they never make the experiment.) The process is deceptive: one feels oneself fulfilled, with these shreds and bits of other people, but at the same time one is being drained.