A nice glass of Laphroaig single-malt scotch. Some brandy warmed in the hand. An ice-cold shot of good vodka. It’s good stuff!
But I rarely drink any of it. I have a bottle or two of 10-year-old Laphroaig around here, and a 15-year-old bottle as well. There’s a bottle of decent Stolichnaya in the freezer. I have a bottle of pretty-good V.S.O.P too.
The trouble is, there is no occasion to drink it! I don’t like to drink alone, and no one ever comes over. I could share a drink with my mom and her husband when I visit, but it’s a long drive home. (Although I’m hoping they’ll finally crack open that bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label I got them last year!) My best fiend stopped drinking last summer, so I won’t have a glass with him. When there is an occasion to have a glass, it never occurs to me.
I know there are people who struggle with alcohol, and that it takes some of them every fibre of their beings to avoid drinking. But for me it takes a conscious effort to even have a glass of wine.
If you don’t want the Laphroaig, I think I might be able to find a home for them. It’d be some work, making room and all … but that’s a price I’m willing to pay. I want to help you.
There’s a big difference between drinking when you happen to be alone, and drinking BECAUSE you’re alone. I really don’t understand where the “drinking alone” stigma comes from. My husband doesn’t drink, but if I have a drink in the evening while he watches TV, is that drinking alone? Do you feel guilty about buying the “party pack” of pizza rolls or whatever and only heating up a few for yourself? Is having a glass of wine with your TV dinner a red flag of some sort?
If you feel like having a drink, have a drink. (If you can handle it, obviously.) If you don’t feel like having a drink don’t torture yourself about it!
I don’t have a “drinking alone” stigma. It’s just that I like to socialize when I have alcohol. On the other hand, I don’t have to have alcohol when I socialize.
It just happens that I prefer company with spirits. (I do remember to have some red wine with dinner occasionally though.)
My sister and I (we live together) always joke that we are the worst alchoholics alive because we always forget to drink, I like the idea of “spirits” but I buy the stuff and it just sits there (except the captain morgans spiced rum, she drinks it all).