Getting Drunk is *Fun*?

In My Humble Opinion
81

[QUOTE}*Originally posted by tlw *
When multiple orgasms cause hangovers or can cause you to drive like an idiot and kill people, then the drinking vs. sex analogy will be meaningful.[/QUOTE]

I am sure it is just the company I keep but I have gone through the preg test so many times (friends of course!), listened to the love of the sex guy, and even listened to some of the std stories.
There are real consequences from the dangers of sex.
the example was fine.

ps I even know a girl with an std (two really, but those are just the ones that stay with her) that refuses to tell the people she has sex with
she has sex like an idiot

82

Gee, I never realised the attraction – sorry, unattraction of getting drunk, as this thread has panned out – could be explained so easily by comparing the respective evenings of one non-drinker and a drinker.

FWIW, I’ve eaten, played games, watched movies, cooked and been to many, many concerts – all these things and more – while drinking. I don’t chose to criticise people who prefer to do these things without drinking. Equally, I would have hoped that non-drinkers would extend the same courtesy to those of us who lead enjoyable and fulfilling lives, which may include the occasional experience of drunkeness.

Some of the narrowmindedness in this thread seriously peeves me. But, eh… nothing a stiff drink won’t fix. :wink:

**Hear fucking hear.

83

when i was like, in the early highschool year, i used to get drunk with people and i always found it fun…i find drunk people absolutely hilarious…then i got into drugs n did everything pretty much (i quit btw)
after doing that, i find drinking really boring from getting used to getting high n what not, when i go to parties now i dont know what to do with myself anymore so i just drink cuz i have nothing better to do…i have to say tho i havent been drunk in a long time…that should change at the end of the month when im 18 :smiley:

84

Getting drunk is not fun. In fact you should never drink, ever.

Since you’re not going to drink, do ya mind if I snag your Rum and Coke? Thanks…
Seriously, a lot of folks here are talking about getting completely trashed, blind drunk, vomiting, hangover, etc. There’s a big difference between drinking, and drinking way too damn much. While having a room spin around while you slither towards a trash can to void your stomach contents has a charm of it’s own, I much prefer to have a few beers or mixed drinks, get to a pleasant buzzing looseness, and enjoy myself. I’m not stumbling around, making clumsy passes at women I don’t know (I only do that when I’m sober), and telling everyone around “I love you, man!” Sure I can’t exactly say “British Constitution”, but I’m hardly a raving loonie. Plus I haven’t had a hangover in ages. It’s great, especially if you can drink just enough to sustain it for a few hours.

85

I thought there was a general human desire to want to get out of one’s skull every once in a while. Every human culture has its own way of getting blitzed, so I assumed it’s a natural tendency. I guess I was wrong.

Puking and hangovers aren’t fun, sure, but some of us don’t drink to that point. I can’t remember the last time I puked or the last time I had a hangover. Yet I tie a good one on almost every weekend, and have an alcoholic drink or two pretty much every day (in the form of wine or beer for daily consumption; vodka, plum brandy and harder alcohol on the weekend.)

No, it’s not necessary for a good time, and Podkayne, my friends and I do all that stuff; we just happen to include alcohol in the equation every so often. Maybe getting drunk or stoned and playing Trivial Pursuit doesn’t appeal to you, but damn, it’s fun to me. Never gotten drunk while cooking? What kind of chef are you? (I’m teasing, for the record.) Some wine for the coq au vin, some wine for the chef, some wine for the coq, some for the chef, etc…

Some of us occassionally want to kick back, and use even less of the 10% of our brains that we normally use. What’s wrong with that? Conversely, there are days and situations in which I want to stay in full mental capacity, and therefore do not drink.

86

Uh yes, because that’s what the OP was about.

87

The OP made no distinction between different kinds of drunkenness, irresponsible or otherwise. As the rest of Genseric’s post said, that’s a glaring simplification. Yes, some people are alcoholics, angry drunks, lewd, don’t know their limits, and can cause serious damage to themselves and others . But one can also grab a few beers without being a social pariah. We all know enough around here to not judge a group based on the mistakes of a member. Why are we drinkers any different?

I drink for a lot of the reasons others have said. I’m a really stinkin’ responsible person 99% of the time. Two jobs, two majors, and a crapload of volunteer work. A couple of beers shuts that to-do list in my head up for a few hours and lets me honestly engage myself in whatever fun activity I’m doing, without my brain running back to work to finish up a few things. Can I have fun without alcohol? Yup. I can have fun without rollercoasters too, but I still like to ride them every now and again.

When I drink, my inhibitions go down. But I don’t run naked through the streets and I don’t have unprotected sex with strangers. My pool game goes all to hell, but then it’s not that good to begin with. I’ve been drunk to the point of illness twice in my life. The first time I learned not to drink the red stuff at the frat party even if it does taste just like Kool-Ade, and a few years later I learned the same lesson with tequila. I was miserable for a few hours, and now I’ve got a couple of funny stories to tell.

I’ll just pretend I have a point here, and say that everybody’s got things they do that make them feel good, some of them mildly destructive. Some people drink, even though it can be dangerous in excess. Some people watch tv, even though it turns off your brain. Some people wallow in sanctimonious self-pity when they hang around people who drink (my personal experience, I’m not referring to anybody here). But, and my apologies to Churchill, tomorrow morning I’ll be sober, and they’ll still be pissed.

88

True. On the surface they are very similar. But compare playing Asshole (the card game) to playing Uno. The rules are very similar. One gets a lot more exciting and funny with the addition of alchohol.

89

Venoma, pravnik, right on.

tlw, I suspect NO explanation anyone could give would “impress” you – not necessarily because there is no valid explanation, but perhaps because you’re expecting not just explanation but justification; i.e. not just how come people like it, but whether it’s “right” to like it.

The dangers and ill-effects of rip-snorting-fall-on-your-face drunkenness evidently argue for themselves against those conducts.

But getting moderately buzzed once in a while? Hey, it’s an altered state of consciousness. To many people, an altered state of consciousness is fun. Some people drink, some people smoke grass, some people run 20 miles, some people do intense TM, to enjoy the “good feelings” they derive from it. No need to justify it to those who just do not value the effect at all.

90

I don’t intend to get drunk ever again (and no, I don’t have a hangover as I write this).

Back in the days when I was in my late teens and everything seemed possible, a night of ten (assorted) pints was the twice-weekly thing and this was mostly fun, in it’s own kind of way; out with the lads for beer, then a doner kebab, or maybe fish and chips, then back to somebody’s house to drink a few more beers then lots of coffee and talk bollocks until the wee small hours.

But I don’t know what happened, somewhere along the way the zone between ‘nicely drunk’ and ‘retching in the gutter wishing to die’ just got narrower and narrower; however much or little I drank it was either not enough or too much.

I stilll enjoy alcohol in a wide variety of forms; there’s hardly any type of beer I won’t drink, I like the occasional G&T, a bottle of cheap red wine now and again, I have half a bottle of (home made) sloe gin in the cupboard; I may even make some wine this year, but I stop after one or two glasses now.

Sometimes alcohol is actually helpful (I co-wrote a pilot episode for a sitcom recently (rejected by the BBC, maybe next time eh?); some of the stuff in there (and it wasn’t that bad) would just never have sprung from a completely sober, connected mind), but most of the time I like to operate on as near to full mental capacity as I can.

91

"My friends,

"I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. All right, here is how I feel about whiskey.

"If when you say whiskey you mean the devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster, that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, and despair, and shame and helplessness, and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it.

"But;

"If when you say whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman’s step on a frosty, crispy morning; if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life’s great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build highways and hospitals and schools, then certainly I am for it.

“This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise.”

  • Rep. Noah S. ‘Soggy’ Sweat Jr. 1952
92

So what kind of people do you meet on the beach and at “frat rock” bars, cheap bars, and clubs where people go to “chase ass”?

93

A lil’ buzz is fun,if thats your thing. I enjoy having a few with friends. however I can’t stand being anywhere near them if they are drinking and I am not. Illicit drugs,thats what I dont get , but thats another thread

94

It’s fun being drunk – other people being drunk while the fun is mine.

While I was in college, I’d go to the school functions to watch people get drunk. They’d be so hilarious, making fools out of themselves.

Oh, and there are other things you can do to drunk people. You can start fights among them, then retreat to watch the fireworks. You can put them in strangely compromising positions, and they can’t get out of them. You can write on their faces with markers. The fun is only limited by your imagination.

95

How many of those that have said they drink to the point of oblivion (or slightly less) are artists of any sort? My feeling is that there is something is the soul of the artist that must balance the act of creation with the active seeking of just “a wee spot of destruction.”

For myself, I am a writer in NYC and I have had too many nights throwing up in gutters to count. I used to be an insomniac, and there really isn’t any other (clothed) social activity other than drinking at 2:00am.

I quit drinking about three years ago when I woke up one morning with a line of blood soaking the front of my t-shirt. My doctor said my liver had crapped out and if I kept drinking I’d be dead in six months. I quit smoking cigarettes three months ago, and that has been about a million times harder. Go figure.

But, to answer the original question:

My take on drinking is that it provides a socially acceptable outlet for something untameable that resides in us. But, that is not to say that drinking also can’t be a productive, as I’ve had brilliant conversations over pints of Guiness. There is nothing like the philosophy that gets poured out at bars. . . But only if you go with intelligent people. :smiley: