How important is Alcohol?

[dizneegirl]

Most days I can take it or leave it. I enjoy the taste of beer. I enjoy the taste of whiskey. I enjoy a rum & Diet Coke. Sometimes I drink, sometimes I don't. So I guess, not that important.

Unless, of course, I'm visiting the in-laws. Then, drinking is an absolute must. It is what it is.

 

[Dan Murphy]

carbonated Weasel pee.

 

[The Mayor]

I genuinely don't like the way alcohol tastes. And I detest feeling altered in any way. I have been drunk in my youth and even had it videotaped...that stopped my desire to drink dead in its tracks. Watching myself drunk.

But mostly I don't like the taste. Wine is just vile (good bad cheap and expensive), and everything else tastes like burning. Except beer...that tastes like carbonated Weasel pee.

So you drink carbonated weasel pee

 

[Smugpugmug]

So you drink carbonated weasel pee

Didn't know that Natural Light had a name change.

 

[longboard55]

I love drinking, but never have the need to have a drink. Only when the occasion is right. I will say I did not drink when I was young in my teens. From what I see most alcoholics started at a young age, like 16 or under. Not everyone in my family that we entertain with drinks, so it is not an issue to drink or not drink.

 

[gshanny]

I have some Mike's in the fridge that are pre-covid old I will drink once in a blue moon, but obviously the moon hasn't been that color in a long time......
I will not drink away from the house unless I have a dd. I am single, so that never really happens. I have been called some vulgar names because I won't drink if I have to drive, not even one drink. I had a boyfriend who was killed by a drunk, along with his friend, during my senior year(it will be 37 years this Thursday). The guy killed a teenage girl a few years later.
My ex was the life of the party, then super nasty as soon as we left the get together, so we didn't keep alcohol around.

 

[tx911]

I have always wondered how we got to the current accepted social norms.

How alcohol is completely normalized as a mind altering drug but other drugs are not only frowned upon but illegal.

My current inclination is that the vast majority of drugs that are currently not allowed to be used recreationally, should be, just like alcohol.

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/pr...-drugs-should-be-legal-can-he-convince-steve/

I genuinely don't like the way alcohol tastes. And I detest feeling altered in any way. I have been drunk in my youth and even had it videotaped...that stopped my desire to drink dead in its tracks. Watching myself drunk.

But mostly I don't like the taste. Wine is just vile (good bad cheap and expensive), and everything else tastes like burning. Except beer...that tastes like carbonated Weasel pee.

The truth is, no one would like how pure alcohol tastes. It has to be doctored up and watered down for anyone to be able to get it down.

One thing that's very noticeable when you quit drinking is how heavily it is marketed and how deeply ingrained it is in our society. It's amazing to me to see commercials showing people jogging and then grabbing a Michelob Ultra as if it is a health food. This is a very very heavily marketed product, which I honestly believe is a major driver of so many people doing it. It's a multi-billion dollar industry, just like tobacco was back in the day. Remember how the Marlboro Man made you want to smoke?

As some have said, I prefer to eat my calories. Not drinking is a huge, and I mean huge, money saver as well.

 

[Jennasis]

So you drink carbonated weasel pee

 

[MillauFr]

It's up there for me. Bar tabs are right up there with car payments and mortgages.

For me the wine budget is more important than the car payment. I dumped my car back in 2001 so I could afford to spend more on wine.

 

[MillauFr]

It's beause large companies make a lot of money on alcohol and lobby to push it. If there was an AB-Inbev for weed or something, we'd see that too.

The Sackler Family made billions on legalized drugs. So yes we did see that. I'm just shocked many of the drug cartels didn't follow the Sackler playbook as well.

 

[NotUrsula]

There was a time I was a fairly heavy drinker of spirits, but that was back in my single days when I rarely had to pay for drinks myself. When DH & I married and made it a goal to save for a home, we looked for effective ways to trim the budget, and the lowest-hanging fruit was alcohol in restaurants and bars, so we decided not to buy them for a while. It got to be a habit, and a while became a longer while, and before we knew it, we had been on the wagon in that way for over 20 years. (We still kept liquor at home and had wine with dinner at times, but we drank less and less as time went on.)

DH still has a beer or a glass of wine on rare occasions. I gave it up entirely 7 years ago after a severe case of pancreatitis (the pancreatitis was not related to drinking, but the docs told me that my pancreas had been damaged, and that alcohol would stress the organ, so I quit completely. I very seldom miss it.)

Maybe I'm unusual, but I've never had anyone pressure me to drink in a social setting. I order water with lemon and no one says a word about it, though waiters occasionally look a bit disappointed that they won't be earning tips on the price of alcohol.

 

[Chili327]

This question (and it's not really a question) has been rattling around in my brain for a while... how important is alcohol to you?

When I'm out at a restaurant (especially a "sports bar" or the like), I almost feel like I SHOULD get a beer or a cocktail. Of course, no one else is making me, and I decline myself MUCH more often than I partake.

And then we go on cruises or to AIs and see how much people are drinking (for cruises "oh, I MORE than get my money's worth out of the drink plan").

Is it because of media/advertising that I feel this way? That I'm sort of "obligated" to have alcohol?

No, I'm not an alcoholic. When I do imbibe, it's generally one cocktail or beer at dinner, and that maybe 20% of the times when I'm at a restaurant.

0%, Not at All, Zilch.
Honestly, I drink once or twice on average a year, sometimes I can go for years without anything, & then some years I'll drink 4-5 nights in a year. Needless to say not a big fan. lol

 

[ronandannette]

Which make me believe it is based in religious doctrine since that is one thing that spans country borders.

Which religion? Mainstream Christian denominations (ex. Catholics, Lutherans and Anglicans) have no prohibition against alcohol but evangelical ones, which now dominate Christianity in America do. Alcohol is permitted in Judaism and Hinduism but prohibited by Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism and Mormonism.

 

[kdonnel]

Which religion? Mainstream Christian denominations (ex. Catholics, Lutherans and Anglicans) have no prohibition against alcohol but evangelical ones, which now dominate Christianity in America do. Alcohol is permitted in Judaism and Hinduism but prohibited by Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism and Mormonism.

I am assuming christianity is the big driver in if not normalizing alcohol certainly not demonizing it and at the same time demonizing other mind altering substances.

 

[Kennywood]

By personal choice, neither my wife nor I drink alcohol. We don't need the affects of alcohol to enjoy ourselves.

One day at work, my wife was talking with a coworker. The subject of drinking arose and my wife casually mentioned that she doesn't drink. To the coworker, you would have thought my wife had said that she came from Mars. After a moment, the coworker asked my wife, "But how do you have a good time??"

Oh, in full disclosure, I did get drunk once. When my brother graduated from college, the reception was held on the grounds. Naturally, our parents spend the majority of the time with my brother. I told my mom that I was thirsty and asked if I could have some punch. She said I could have as much as I wanted, so I did. Yep! Someone spiked the punch! Eventually, my folks saw me staggering around and decided it was time to leave. On a positive note, my mom said, "At least you were a happy drunk!"

 

[BrianL]

By personal choice, neither my wife nor I drink alcohol. We don't need the affects of alcohol to enjoy ourselves.

One day at work, my wife was talking with a coworker. The subject of drinking arose and my wife casually mentioned that she doesn't drink. To the coworker, you would have thought my wife had said that she came from Mars. After a moment, the coworker asked my wife, "But how do you have a good time??"

That is alwyas how I have felt too. I don't like having my faculties altered and I have plenty of good times despite that. I will say that I am a bit of a high strung person. There was a joke on Bob's Burgers that was similar to your wife's coworker story. If you know the character of Linda's sister Gayle, then this is hillarious:

Linda: "Where's your wine?"
Gayle: "I don't have any."
Linda: "Beer?"
Gayle: "No."
Linda: "How do you relax?"
Gayle: "I don't."
Linda: "Right. Right. Of course not."

I relate to that pretty hard!

 

[NYCgrrl]

You know?
If people could just adhere to the adage that everything in moderation works the world would be a better place.
Oh except…foodstuff made of things not found in nature. Hehehe.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I love drinking, but never have the need to have a drink. Only when the occasion is right. I will say I did not drink when I was young in my teens. From what I see most alcoholics started at a young age, like 16 or under. Not everyone in my family that we entertain with drinks, so it is not an issue to drink or not drink.

I'll say this, coming from a family with alcoholics in it, you can definitely spot the teens and young adults who may...or seem likely to have a problem into their adulthood with booze or drugs. It's almost 100% correct every time. And, they almost all come from big drinking families. On one side, as a kid, mine was a pretty big drinking family, but my own mother was not. Yet I have an Uncle, Aunt and several of their offspring that all drink too much....way too much in some instances. And my husband had the same situation on his mother's side. His maternal grandfather and brother were both alcoholics. It's why we are very cognizant of our own drinking, but I also think you either get that gene or you don't. His own brother died at 56 from liver failure, and we're nearly that age now....and so we feel like "we're good" in that department.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Obviously an unpopular opinion on the dis, but very important. Yes, I can have fun without it, but love beverages at the appropriate time and love trying different types.

I can't do shots, but love beer, wine, cocktails, mixed drinks. Nothing better on a hot day then sitting in my floatie at our lake house with a beverage in hand chatting with friends, family, and our lake neighbors.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Alcohol isn't important by which I'm assuming you're meaning you make it a priority and if you don't get it there's some sort of disappointment.

It matters not to me if there's no alcohol at any event we go to. It's nice to have it if the mood strikes but equally fine to not.

I love a good porter or stout but have never felt like I must have it even if it's readily available, nor am I interested in drinking a ton at once (not since before I was 21 anyhow)