I agree, Milossarian, I hate it when the room spins. Also, at that point, a torturing hangover is inevitable.
I have no problem running out of beer. Here in Las Vegas, alcohol is sold 24/7.
As for why I drink the stuff? I love the euphoria. I’m physically addicted. I need it to get out of depression (though the use of beer is probably what’s causing it).
I used to run away from life’s pressures. But I’ve now learned other means than escape. I only drink occasionally now. I still love the stuff, but I have a newfound respect for its danger.
I think I read it in a bartender’s manual: “Alcohol is an excellent servant, but it is a ruthless master.”
I have the impression that Americans are rather more puritanical about drink than we are in Britain. It is considered perfectly normal here, for example, for a man to drink six or eight pints of 4.5% beer during the course of an evening, or for one person to consume a bottle of wine or more with dinner.
Am I right? Would this level of consumption be frowned on in the US, or do you like a drink just as much as we do?
Also, what’s the deal with “dry” towns and counties? If alcohol is freely available in the next town, isn’t this just an invitation to drink and drive?
I had attended a seminar on alcoholism at a SUNY campus as part of a research project. If you’re correct and the information is flawed, then there are over 1000 mis-informed folks out there.
Your general statements regarding addiction do not satisfy to disprove what I had heard so, until you show that you have a better understanding of the subject matter, I’ll continue to believe my “flawed” info.
When did you decide that you had achieved your definition of “alcoholic.” I’m curious because I’m involved in research that asks people about their drinking habits and have the feeling that there are large differences in how people define that term for themselves.
I am puzzled by people who drink beer only in order to get drunk. This implies that the desired end is a state of drunkeness and that enjoyment of the beverage is secondary, if it is a factor at all. If that is so, why not drink whiskey?
My personal experience has been that whiskey has always gotten me there faster and kept me there longer than beer ever could. My conclusion was that whiskey provided more bang for the buck and was therefore the most cost-effective route to drunkeness.
Kent - I did in fact contradict your statement. You contend that only the system of an alcoholic will process alcohol in such a way that results in the release of endorphins (and euphoria). This is profoundly untrue. Most people are not alcoholics, and most people who drink experience euphoria. QED.
Tracer - I usually do lay in a supply for sunday, and in kansas we are allowed to use refridgerators as long as nothing in their design directly contradicts a literalist interpretation of the King James Bible. However, as I said my plans for buying beer for the sabbath were derailed (specifically, due to excessive travel the two days before I had not had any sleep, and I fell asleep before I got to the liquor store saturday).
Okay, very good questions, guys. Let me see if I can answer them.
Hmmm…
cher3 wrote:
Once, I had the ridiculous notion of quitting alcohol cold turkey. I was alright for a couple of days, but as more time lapsed, I began to feel very uncomfortable. I could drink a gallon of water, eat 3 large meals, but still something was missing. It was only when I thought about beer that my mouth would actually begin to water. Long periods of abstinence put me into depression. It was then that I decided to slowly wean myself off the stuff.
Crystalguy wrote:
Well, I eat food to get full. I think the taste is secondary. I say this because if I am very full, I will not eat anything no matter how tasty it may be. This may differ for some.
As for the whiskey, you are absolutely correct. Every time I have drunk whiskey, I’ve gotten drunk very fast. And too many times, I’ve gotten way too drunk. That is to say, there are different states of drunkenness.
I like the state of drunkenness where it feels good and I still have some control. I do not like it when the room wildly spins around. Beer delivers alcohol at a modest rate. There are no surprises with beer. One can tank down a pint of whiskey, and feel nothing for ten minutes, then BANG! This doesn’t happen with beer.
I can drink beer for many hours, and maintain the desired state of drunkenness. I need a constant alcohol flux through my body. And beer does the trick rather well.
Milossarian: Yes, you’ve hit upon the art of alcohol consumption. The longer you can stay drunk without getting “the spins” or actually passing out or sobering up the greater the master you are. Personally, when I begin drinking with the intention of getting drunk I typically have a shot of liquor and chase it with a beer immediately. Then, I drink the other beer I just ordered at a normal pace. This helps me reach my plateu quickly and maintain. It also saves time 'cause I can order all three at once.
TomH: Puritanical is the correct word for it and yes, if one were to consume that volume of alcohol it would be frowned upon.
Dry county means different things. Sometimes dry county means that there will not be alcohol sold in the county, but that the city jurisdiction may sell alcohol. Alternativerly, it could me that there’s no alcohol to be sold in the county, period. Having grown up in the latter, I can confirm that it does indeed promote drinking and driving. The Jack Daniels distillery of Kentucky is in a dry county. Ironic? Quite so.
cher3: Feel free to send me a questionnaire
Voted most likely to ramble on inanely - I hope I’ve not taken someone else’s title ‘cause as far as I know I just made that up and I wouldn’t want to make anyone mad at me or anything like that and all ya’ know.
Thanks for volunteering, Inertia, but the study is already completed and we’re looking at a particular group of people.
TomH:
I think that Americans compartmentalize their attitudes about drinking. For example, the media have been clucking over a big study of college students that was recently published here in which a “binge” was defined as five drinks for men and four drinks for women. So the amount of beer or wine you mention would put anyone well into the “binge” range. However, at the same time, you can go to any bar district these days and find places serving martinis and margaritas the size of a birdbath. Somebody is ordering those drinks.
BeerUser: You note that you are concerned about your drinking. Have you increased your daily intake significantly since you started drinking?
A word about denial and quitting anytime you want: I , drink about three beers a night, every night. Weekend nights (fri, sat and sunday, cause I start earlier) I might drink as many as eight, or as few as three. This has remained stable for as long as I have been drinking beer. Thus, I’m not terribly concerned. I find I can go days without drinking without any problems. This is much different than my experience with pot, in which I found that when I was not high, I was thinking about getting high…almost all the time (and this was virtually from the first time I toked). So I quit pot, and all the other stuff I did about four years ago (including cigarrettes). Thus, I feel I have a pretty good track record of quitting drugs that are problems for me. If I don’t consider drinking a problem for me (and its not impacting work, I get promotions and raises regularly, with outstanding performance reviews) and I know for a fact that I can quit (because I’ve quit much more addictive drugs, such as nicotine) then am I in denial?
Whenever I have a beer open, I always end up drinking a little bit of it and then discover that the rest has evaporated. Is there any way to prevent this evaporation problem?
Kevin Allegood,
“At least one could get something through Trotsky’s skull.”
At one point in my life I needed at least a six pack to feel something. I’ve slowly weaned off the stuff. Nowadays, a six pack is sufficient.
Riboflavin wrote:
You must either drink it faster than it is evaporating, or descend into a higher pressure atmosphere.
Very good question, spoke.
But I’m afraid it’s up to your own judgment. Just don’t drive while your at it.
The earliest time for me? I’ve drank beer from all hours of the day. But I’ve many times kept unusual hours, so this is relative. I don’t drink before I go to work. And I try not to drink until after six hours after I get up in the “morning.” I’ve known people who could drink for long periods, 16 to 20 hours, I simply can’t do it. After 12 hours, my stomach turns sour and my head begins to hurt.
