The Alcohol Thread

Noel2k9 wrote: »

Don't drink too much vodka kids.. seriously...

After having worked in pubs and stuff, I've really gone off drink lately. Seeing middle aged women having to be carried out of a pub at 6 o'clock on a Sunday evening will do that to you. That with the depressingness of going into work an hour before we opened on St. Patrick's, and all the regulars were waiting outside for us to opening, begging everyone as they went in/opened the door to let them in.

I started drinking when I was 15 and going into fourth year. Looking back, I was way too young. I didn't do it because I wanted to or liked the taste of it. I did it because I had just started hanging around with a new group of people and wanted to fit in.

I hate clubs. I hate that they're so expensive. I hate the music. I hate dancing. I just hate them, I much prefer going to pubs/late bars and having a few drinks.

I mainly drink cider, I never drink bulmers though, I think it's horrible stuff. I'm a kopparberg drinker, yes it's more expensive but I like it and I don't really see the point in drinking something I don't like. I don't go out with the sole intention of getting drunk I can't stand that idea.

Some of the most fun nights I've had were with my best friend who doesn't drink, and I rarely drink when I'm with her. I like having maybe 3/4 ciders in a night out, getting a bit of a buzz but not ending up really drunk. I hate the feeling after having been drunk and waking up the next day feeling mortified about stuff I said (which is rarely that bad), stuff I did, the photos or not knowing. Just in general the fear. So I try to avoid that as much as possible.

(wow that was rambly)

SarahBeep! wrote: »

I hate clubs. I hate that they're so expensive. I hate the music. I hate dancing. I just hate them, I much prefer going to pubs/late bars and having a few drinks.
!

Same here really. I actually can't dance to the music at all ..
I'm 17 and I only started going out lately. I don't see why everyone thinks it's so great. I like drinking, it gives me confidence but I feel so out of place
What really annoys me though is on a Monday morning at school all you hear is 'OMG I got sooo pissed over the weekend. I drank X, so much of Y and Z'. Like seriously nobody cares!

_meehan_ wrote: »

I've definitely found that the mood I'm in affects the amount I drink. If I go out any bit depressed, I generally end up a mess...it's somthing I've been avoiding lately, and I just make excuses not to go if I know I'm having a crappy day.

When I'm in a good mood though, it can be fun. I know exactly where that window of "drunk enough to feel a buzz, but not so much to be a staggering mess" is for me, and I stick to that on nights out.

This thread has made me realize how much I actually hate getting drunk! I might try just having one or 2 drinks next time I'm out!

I don't think I can really enjoy myself around drunk people, or even people who seem tipsy. I find the giddiness of some happy drunks a bit disturbing.

I don't drink very often and when I do I'm pretty sensible about it, I usually just have one or two drinks in an attempt to break though the thin veil of awkwardness disguising the real me (unfortunately the real me is just more awkwardness and not a much else :pac:). I much prefer having a night out with my friends when we're not drinking, we're immature enough to act like drunken children and no one ends the night crying or throwing up.

Funnily enough the few times I've gotten properly drunk have been at family events, typical Irish family they think "I'm fine with coke" is code for "Slip me a glass of wine when my parents aren't looking"

Cydoniac wrote: »

I'm 18 and I don't drink. I don't know if I ever will..... There has been a history of alcoholism in my family. I suppose it left a deep impact on me when it got to the point where someone in my family was in a deep bout of alcoholism, and I had to pull them to a couch so they wouldn't hurt themselves...

I have had, lets say (as I know a good few people on this place) some experience regarding these matters..., and I totally, totally understand where you're coming from. I didn't start drinking until I was 17, simply because I felt as though I had seen just about everything there was to it from an early age.

I wasn't scared of drinking, more disillusioned by it, and beared a little resentment too I suppose. Seeing examples of people who used alcohol to cover up for something, or compensate for it, is what made me wary of drinking. I knew I had some insecurities or thought patterns that made me very, very susceptible to using drink in this manner- I believe this is the case for a lot of people, but they don't have the background to recognise this trap straight away- so I came to it a lot more slowly than most of my friends. I have friends who are outgoing, social, fun people without a drop in their system, and that's what I've attempted to aim at over the last few years. Once you're happy about the person you are sober, you're not using drugs to block something out, or change a part of yourself, because down that road lies abuse and dependence, methinks.

(Not knocking your decision or anything though- I know how hard it can be to see things in a different light when you've been through an extremely tough time. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do now and in the future Cydoniac!)

Even though I've missed out on a lot of socialising, I'm glad I moved at this pace. Alcohol's a drug, a legal drug, but a drug all the same, and if other people, or factors in your life, are dictating how you use it, I think you need to step back and take a look at yourself. I knew my childhood experiences had left me with a bit of baggage that I needed to sort through, before I could feel comfortable with it. Now I do, and I enjoy drinking. It relaxes me in a way I like, because my mind is always whirring for one reason or another. I always have a really great sleep after a few beers as well, which is what I really like! Isn't much different from the detatchment/ empty-headedness I feel when I read a good book or watch a great film though, so I can give a night out a miss and not feel put out at all.

Beer still tastes like wee-wee to me, I was drinking a Heineken someone gave to me on Saturday and I literally couldn't finish it, it tasted so crappy to me (I think that's mainly Heineken's problem though). Stuff that tastes like things I already know, like lemons/apples/oranges etc." appeal to me more, so G&Ts, wine, cider, even cheap champagne are the drinks I like most. However, I am fully aware of my n00biness drinking-wise, because I'm not really into it enough to get the catalouge-like knowledge some people have.

To finish off, I've never been drunk, as I've always been a small bit mindful about taking care of myself on a rare night out. Despite some people's morbid fascination with seeing me inebriated. (I'm serious, I have friends who seem to have rolled Area 51, the Loch Ness Monster, Shergar and the Bermuda Triangle into one when they ask me about what I'm like THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND.) I've never made a spectacle of myself.....

.............eeeeeeexcept for one night at a certain boardsie's birthday party where I went a-vomiting and was reminded of a golden rule: eating nothing but a bowl of Crunchy Nut nine hours before you go drinking and doing other things is very, very silly. Remember kids, treat your belly to a meal of some sort before you go out, and unless you really push your luck, it'll be your friend for the night!

/bargepoll

I'm surprised by the number of people who don't like beer :eek:

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

I'm surprised by the number of people who don't like beer :eek:

I was under the impression that almost all alcoholic drinks were basically equivalent to beer. Turns out pH values aren't that straight forward.

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

I don't like beer either. I've only tried the mainstream ones mostly, but to me they taste quite similar (and quite sh*t). Some people would say "you're drinking the wrong beers" but to be honest I'm not going to try loads of beer to find one I like - there's tonnes of other drinks I think are nice, so I just don't bother with beer!

I've tried a fair few even a honey beer from australia that I expected to be nice but they all taste fairly rank to me.Though in saying that I only really like bitch fizz or coctails or cider.I'll drink vodka but I dislike whiskey etc and all shots.

Davidius wrote: »

I was under the impression that almost all alcoholic drinks were basically equivalent to beer. Turns out pH values aren't that straight forward.

Don't think its the ph putting people off its the taste.:P

I think you start to like whatever you get used to drinking tbh. I'd usually go out in pubs and drink Heineken or Harp (although everyone thinks I'm an old man ordering it ). I think Harp is nicer, but it's a bit heavier than Heineken. At first when I started drinking them I actually hated them, but it's an acquired taste imo...like tea.

Conversely, I barely ever drink wine or champagne or anything and I think they're absolutely disgusting.

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Rekorderlig is very tasty, but there aren't many places that stock it!

I used to be able to get it in Roches St and the offie by St Johns