If you drink the right amount (not too much, not too little) alcohol makes things less boring. Movies and video games are more fun. It also takes the edge off of bad memories. Social events are more fun as well. Basically what others have said.
There are some folks who only plan on having the “right amount” and unfortunately once they start drinking, they keep drinking. My advice is not to drink at all.
I only drink to make other people more interesting. 
I was an amateur sociologist in a prior life and learned that every known civilization has had a way for people to alter their consciousness. Some of the ways were quite gruesome.
I recall it was accredited to mans instinct to discover.
I spent a lot of time in bars even though I’m a very light drinker. This has given me some observations;
Some people see it as a social obligation.
Some people don’t like being with their sober-selfs. Esp. alone with themselves.
A lot of people don’t (seem to) know how to tell when they’ve had enough. I have no problem balancing beer, booze, wine and soda to maintain a social buzz.
My advice is you don’t drink, since you’re the one who can’t keep her shit together. My advice to everyone who can drink like a normal person is “Cheers!”
A perfectly acceptable alternative for those who cannot keep their shite together is to buy rounds for those of us who can.
I was hanging at a friend’s last night, playing cards and having a mixed drink about every 2 hours or so. When I took a potty break toward the end of the evening they decided to spike up my drink. Apparently alot. I finished it off and headed the short distance home. By the time I got here it had hit. My stomach, however, takes it’s job of ejecting poisons very seriously. I spent the next 2.5 miserable hours heaving, retching, sweating and chilled. The absolute farthest possible thing from having fun. This is one reason I don’t drink to the point of drunkeness.
If I could teach that as a method, it would be much more effective than AA!
They can serve as designated drivers! Brilliance.
Yep, totally the only one.
I’m a pretty occasional drinker, but when I drink, I do it because it makes me feel good. I feel happier, more euphoric.
Other effects:
Yes, alcohol does change the settings on the ‘go for it’ v. ‘hold back’ meter in favor of less restraint. Not by a whole lot, in my case, but enough to notice it.
In my case, I do stop before getting too wasted. I noticed early on that when my legs started getting wobbly, it was a good idea to stop drinking. I listen to my legs.
I’ve never had hangovers. IIRC, hangovers are largely due to dehydration. I tend to drink beer, wine, and mixed drinks that aren’t all that much stronger than beer and wine, so I’m generally not getting too dehydrated as I go along. And I tend to notice my thirst after I stop drinking alcoholic beverages, and get some water, sweet tea, or whatever before I go to bed.
In short, there’s not much price to be paid for my occasional alcohol-induced highs. So it’s all good.
They also can turn out vicious when drunk, because the inhibitions are lowered.
Booze is not a good thing. Too many bad things can happen from drinking, and I’ll be damned if I can think of a single good thing that comes from it.
The following may be outdated, deprecated, or incomplete.
There has been some research on why some people will continue drinking beyond when they have “had enough”.
Ethanol is metabolized in several stages by various liver enzymes. One intermediate product is acetone. Yes, nail polish remover. Apparently acetone in the blood stream results in a strong craving for more. Many people who can’t control their drinking are deficient in the enzyme that metabolizes the acetone to the next phase, so they experience stronger craving for longer duration. This is genetic in some, but can also result from liver damage due to drinking or disease…so it gets worse the more the drinker indulges this craving, and someone with normal liver function can through drinking destroy their ability to control the drinking.
Of course there are psychological issues as well, but this physiological craving is often present in alcoholics.
That’s true. There’s people who are ‘happy drunks’ and people that are ‘mean drunks’. People that are 'happy drunks are more likely to get either jovial or weepy when severely intoxicated. These people are less dangerous and more annoying (if you are the sober one).
Angry drunks are dangerous. They can be the most amiable people sober,but get them drunk and they turn into assholes. They can be unpredictable.
In my wife’s culture, alcohol is a bonding agent between relatives. Typically what happens is there is a benign event (kid’s birthday, other miscelleaneous holiday) going on, and the Tequila/Beer is flowing. People will start getting weepy about past misdeeds/deceased family late into the night.
Its expected that everybody at the party is responsible enough to handle their liquor. I learned this the hard way a couple of times (people kept offering me shots; the more I had, the easier it was to oblige) apparently its your own responsibility to respectfully say ‘no thank you’ if you know you need to drive home. This is contrasted with my own family that will hesitate to provide alcohol to a guest who is planning on driving home (or will simply offer to let the drunk spend the night).
I don’t know what percent of drinkers develop serious physical addiction and a host of other problems with that. I tried looking it up, I found stats anywhere from 5-25%. Either way, the majority of drinkers will not become alcoholics whose lives, careers, relationships, etc are damaged. For most of us alcohol is just a way to make life more enjoyable and less boring.
I know when to stop. If I drink too much I vomit. I still don’t get hangovers, but the drinking itself is unpleasant after too much.
George Best
A lot of people do it at home to “treat” depression. Not much fun or social expectation involved in that.
Yes, some people have this dull aching feeling of misery that permeates throughout their day, and only alcohol can get ride of it.
Correction: only alcohol can LEGALLY (and thus conveniently) get rid of it.
Just went drinking with some of my friends tonight. We had a good time. Joked around, had dinner, caught up. I’m at home now watching TV and will go to bed soon. Glad the Anti Saloon League wasn’t around to tell us our fun was a bad thing.
Couldn’t they also be happy as can be, but able to appreciate an upward tweak in glee?