What is the attraction of drinking to unconsciousness (as opposed to alcoholic glow)?

In My Humble Opinion
21

When I was trying to moderate my drinking, I was quite impressed at what a nice buzz I could get from 4 beers over a 2-3 hour period. But for me - and many heavy drinkers - that took a whole lotta more planning and self control than just tossing them back as fast as you can.

As people said, the first 1,2,3 taste and feel so good, you figure the next 1,2,3 will just keep you there or even feel better. There is a lag before you realize you are drunker than you intended to get. And somewhere during that lag your judgment and self-control is often shot to hell.

Someone else mentioned the “competitiveness” aspect. For me I know I felt I wasn’t “too drunk” as long as there was someone else at the party who was as drunk/drunker than me.

22

There’re also drinks that creep up on you. Sangria is the worst. Drink a couple, you’ll feel fine. So you drink a couple more. Then the first two drinks ambush you and you can barely stand.

23

Back when I still drank heavily in my 20s, I was the same way. The fact was, I didn’t like being shitfaced drunk. I liked that warm glow that comes after 2-4 drinks. But I never knew when to stop. I’d think I was just trying to maintain that happy glow, and the next thing I’d know I’d be on my lips.

Fortunately, I never drank to the “passed out” stage in public. That was reserved for when I was sitting alone at home with a 12-pack in front of the TV, in a nice, comfortable, relaxing recliner. It would just sort of sneak up on me.

24

“Passed out” would have been preferable to “blacked out,” which can best be described as your brain goes home and goes to sleep but your body stays out and parties all night. And says stuff. And does stuff. That you have no recollection of whatsoever, since you weren’t really there and no one pushed the “record” button. But the level of pissed-off-ed-ness of your friends is a pretty good barometer of how your night went…

25

Blackouts are interesting. My experience is that some people can’t really have them. For example, I vomit well before getting to any blackout stage. I’ve had nights where I get absolutely shitfaced, make a big fool of myself, vomit somewhere, get home, wake up in the morning, and remember every little incident. On the other hand I know a girl who gets drunk, gets happy, makes reasonable conversation and then doesn’t remember a thing the next day.

26

You know my best friend? :eek:

Seriously…the girl will drink herself to a happy pleasantly buzzed state, and then to all appearances maintain this pleasantly buzzed state…

And the next day she’ll say cheerfully, “Oh, you were talking to Blackout Jen! I don’t remember anything past that shot of Jager around midnight.”

And yet we hung out for the next four hours. And I never knew she was blacked out. Drunk, yes. So was I. But blacked out? Really? How does that work?

I’ve gotten drunk enough to have to be REMINDED of things the next day, or to be a bit fuzzy on the details of conversations, but I’ve never just completely lost half my evening. To me that’s just odd, because she doesn’t appear to be anywhere near that state.

Re: the OP…drinking to excess is like eating to excess in many ways. The food tastes good and you keep eating it, even though you kinda know that you’re already full. And your brain won’t get the memo on how full you are til it’s too late, and then you’re feeling like a beached whale for a few hours, wishing to God you hadn’t eaten so damn much.

A good buzz, for me, is about three drinks in…maybe add a shot. Over a two hour period. After that, my goal is just to maintain it…but the more you drink, the less able you are to be rational about what you’re maintaining, and keep track of things. Plus since I’m a bartender, and I hang out with other ones, we all have a terrible tendency to buy each other rounds of shots. And when they show up, we drink 'em, even if we don’t want 'em.

And if this state of affairs keeps up, good morning hangover!

I don’t know anybody who WANTS to get smashed to the point that they pass out. Some people just don’t know how to pace themselves. And if this is at a party, so the bar never closes…well sometimes the party doesn’t end til all the booze is gone.

27

Something else that keeps me drinking. I’m not a great conversationalist and like to have something to do other than standing talking to someone otherwise I start feeling uncomfortable. If I smoked I could probably do that.