Enabling

Drinking, for anyone who knows me has been a long term, passion, shall we say. From the first night I drank alcohol and threw up in my parents kitchen, to tonight where I have had five "casual" beers, alcohol consumption has taken on a part of my life. It is normal. I don't drink because I want to "fit in" or because I desire to "repress" certian memories, I just drink. I don't drink much soda, or tea, or basically anything besides water that isn't alcohol related. Mainly because I enjoy the taste of most alcoholic drinks, whether it is a glass of chardonay on a hot summer day or two fingers of Glenlivet scotch on a cold winter's night, it all goes down like the finest french cheese on a lover's palet; I drink alcohol for the taste.... most of the time.

Now with that disclaimer laid out, I will confess that I do binge drink with the best of them. I take pride in the amount I can drink and still keep my intelect and understanding about me; which by all accounts is really a foolish thing to take pride but here I stand. I have seen countless nights where I couldn't see... straight that is. And I have discussed everything from religion to anarchy, alchemy to philosophy and everything in between upon drinking a few tasty beverages, so do not take stalk nor insult in what I write from hence forth. It is for my own pleasure and for the few who may come across this with an open mind looking for nothing more than a drunk persons ramlings.

Funny for me, a self confessed alcoholic (without a problem in need of rehad, maybe just a couple days of sobriety) to land in a society slightly obsessed with drinking. Having a high tolerance, or being a strong drinker as it is said here, is something to be coveted and respected in the place I find myself. As such, my prior conditioning has served me well so far. Although being a "strong drinker" is something respected and slightly awed in college aged persons of America, among adults and families it is almost seen as taboo. Certainly nothing to boast or brag about, but almost not even something to mention. I can't remember a conversation I have had where some above the age of 21 asked me if I had a high tolerance, or was a strong drinker. What a interesting difference.

Not long ago, I was at a "pub" (for lack of a better word I will use pub, but that doesn't quite describe it) and was asked if I was a strong drinker by a woman who must be in her 60's bare minimum. I don't say her age to insult, I only wish to illuminate my point. Which is that I have become a member of a culture who embraces drinking not only as insolent children wishing to break free of their parents reign of control, but also as grandmothers who still find it a strength to be able to "put back" their fare share of alcohol while holding on to their sanity. I won't say whether more drinking happens here, or where I am from... but the attitude is slightly different. Similarly, so is the approach.

Drinking until one is beyond drunk seems to be completely accepted, which I can illistrate. Upon leaving a bar I frequent I found a couple of men probably my age passed out on the sidewalk, and slightly in the planters of the street I was walking on. I was walking by myself but by no means was the only person on the street. My first thought was do they need help. My second, I wonder if they will be arrested. Should I try to wake them up so as to help them avoid such trouble, however nobody else around seem to be taking any such notice, nore any care. So I walked on by. I have seen a girl being litteraly carried out of the bar, hopefully by friends and hopefully home, by four guys. I have seen, only two nights ago, a girl so drunk almost seeming to be convusing on the steps of a closed retail shop, supported by friends, basically showing the world her underwear for lack of conciousness. Most disturbing, on my way home one Saturday night, a man most likely in his sixties sat on the steps of a closed restuarant with his head in his hands and puke in between his feet.

It is quite a different situation than what I am used to, and from what I can tell, it is actually getting to be less of a drinking society. Although I don't think there are any laws that correspond to out drunk in public laws, it supposedly is getting less common for older people to binge drink. Hmmmmmmm.... is all I can really say.

As I began, I shall finish. I am a drinker, and by no means has this made me think twice about drinking. In fact, I am presently leaving for my neighborhood bar. However, I have thought the difference in attitude somewhat astounding for quite some time and felt a small need to write about it.