Too bad, cause that’s about all you’re gonna get. Some people like it, some don’t; ain’t much in life that’s any different.
Cause things make more sense when you’re all liquored up.
Because honey dissolved in water is kinda nasty but mead tastes good.
Seriously. The only alcoholic beverages I consume are either wines and meads from small (usually local) producers or (far more often) other people’s homebrews, and I drink them for the same reason I eat other people’s cooking - I would like to appreciate their handiwork, and more often than not, it’s good. In practice, this means I have a “drink” about eight times a year or so.
I have a naturally fairly high tolerance for alcohol (German/Scandinavian/Celtic ancestry, there), I rarely have more than one glass of whatever it is, and I have a trick stomach that will let me know at once if it didn’t like something, so I don’t drink to excess. I’ve gotten a “buzz” once (good mead, but strong) and never been drunk, and I don’t see the point of it, myself. I suspect said trick stomach would not take kindly to the idea, and I see no reason to tempt it.
Sometimes a glass or too will help some people be a bit more social and sometimes it helps me sleep 
I don’t over-do it though.
Erm, there’s an extra comma that goes in the sentence above, somewhere.
Because ugly people need lovin’ too!
[sub]OUCH. slurring It wuz a joke. C’mon. [/sub]
We all know that smoking pot is illegal but I can understand the original quote by Sinful that people drink to excess and are probably much more reckless then people who smoke a little pot. I suppose if pot is illegal why isn’t drinking?
My situation is pretty peculiar, actually. For whatever reason, I lack the…gene? ability? whatever? to catch any such “buzz” off of alcohol. Nothing happens when I imbibe…at all. No matter the drink, no matter the amount. I have a fondness for Scotch, especially good Scotch. It’s nothing at all for me to put eight or nine drinks under my belt with no effect whatsoever. I don’t cut it with H20, I don’t use ice. I dunno either. It’s the same with, ah, less legal substances as well. Pot does nothing, even good pot. Cocaine does nothing. I’m fucked up that way, I guess.
With that said, I drink beverages that I enjoy. I’ve never understood the appeal of drinking something you don’t like, and I’ll never understand why it’s supposedly fun to stagger about making an asshole out of oneself. Drunk people irritate me, people with a “buzz” (read giggling stupidly over the most inane things) annoy me, and don’t even think about coming near me if you’re a loud drunk.
Keeping in mind, though, that I don’t give a damn what anyone does in the privacy of their own home. I just choose not to be around folks who can’t (hate this term, but it’s the only one I know) “hold their liquor”.
“Nothing happens when I imbibe…at all. No matter the drink, no matter the amount. I have a fondness for Scotch, especially good Scotch. It’s nothing at all for me to put eight or nine drinks under my belt with no effect whatsoever.”<snip>
This is a thing I have never heard of, and I’ve been around more than my share of drinkers.
I’m not disputing your word, but has anybody ever told you that you’re weird in that respect?
Maybe the medicos or liquor companies would pay you some serious money as a research subject. I’d check it out if I were you.
::snorts with laughter::
More times than you can imagine.
Hrm! Would they perhaps free a monkey or bunny or two if I volunteered? Maybe I have leverage in the fight against animal experimentation after all! Seriously, I’ve never thought about that. It’s something to consider, certainly.
“I drink to make other people interesting”-George Jean Nathan
Some people drink for exactly that reason: conversations are a lot easier if you’re buzzed. A lot more pointless and less coherent, but easier.
Personally, it’s fun (and I know you don’t accept that as an answer, but pbthtthth). It can also be a great bonding (that’s not really the right word, since I already knew everyone) experience. For example, the first time I got drunk was about a week before high school graduation. Just me and three other guys that had all gone to junior high and high school together telling story after story about the funny stuff that we saw or did.
I also enjoy the whole morning afterwards scene. Since we’re normally just hanging out (and sleeping at) someone’s house this is always good. Everyone’s feeling like shit, looking a little worse than that, and there will be an hour or so of “how the f*ck did the whole roll of TP end up in the kitchen sink” or whatever before we all stagger out to get some breakfast, still wearing the sweatshirts we slept in…ahh…good times.
I suppose that to some, the ritual of the thing could be nice as well…clinking glasses, toasts, all that good stuff.
There’s a distinct difference between drinking and drunkeness. It’s a very fine distinction for some people but it’s real. I’m not suprised that Greeks factored the great perils and benefits of wine into their pantheon. Sensible people.
Alcohol is like anything else. Treated with respect and knowledge, it’s a potent blessing or curse. Like sex, food, religiosity, pedantry, whatever; it’s an unhilted blade. Grasp it, use it but know what you’re wielding can cut almost painlessly at first, and in ways you never intended. IMO grape and grain are like most blessings. They’re to be approached with equal parts gratitude and caution.
Taken with thought and respect for their power, grape and grain are wonderful, nothing less: wonders, benisons worthy of gods. They can be warming, welcoming–comfort to the tired and weary, celebration for the joyful, suave grace-notes throughout daily life. Drinking does not automatically equal excess. Would you outlaw computer games, science fiction novels or religion because some people immerse themselves to exclusion of the wider world? Pick your drug. The error is imbalance, not the focus of choice.
Veb
QueerGeekGirl said: “Pot does nothing, even good pot. Cocaine does nothing.”
:eek:
Either there is something very odd medically in your brain or something, or you have never tried real pot or cocaine. Or you are kidding. It’s one of those three. John Carter is right: if you were serious then you could get rich from research companies.
Note: I certainly do not recommend you smoke pot, and you should never take cocaine as it is very bad for you.
It depends what you mean by drink, and it depends what you mean by drunk.
Wine is good with food. The right wine will complement a dish in a way that water, fruit juice or (og help us) cola won’t.
G&T, beer or cider are good in hot weather.
Guinness is part of my cultural inheritance, and you’ll stop me drinking it at your peril.
I don’t do drunk. Not giggly drunk, not staggering drunk, not crying into my pint drunk. I stop when I feel happy and in control, because the next stage is one I don’t want to be in.
I’m quite happy going out and not drinking, as long as I can dance, or talk to people. I hate bars without dance floors, but with loud music playing.
Sometimes there are conversations you can only have when you’ve had a drink. To steady you nerves, to loosen you up, to allow you to deny it later, whatever.
It boils down to personal freedoms and responsibilities. I don’t want to live in a society where I am denied the option to imbibe, should I, as an adult, choose to do so.
Some of us do. Coffee doesn’t taste good the first time you drink it, either, but plenty of people learn to appreciate and enjoy the taste. It’s the same with alcohol. Even the scotch that you thought was awful, my husband appreciates. He has a glass now and then, sipped slowly mixed with water, and can critique the components of the flavor like one might discuss wine.
Not joking at all. And I have, indeed, had the real thing. I, ah, can’t tell you my sources or anything, but I’m 100% it was genuine stuff, and excellent quality cuts of both.
I know it’s odd. I can’t explain it, but there it is.
Unless you smoke a lot of pot in one sitting, people don’t normally get high off of it their first times. Took me five times when I did it, and the fifth time was my last. As for cocaine, I have no clue.
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Hm. The only time I am tempted to drink these days is when I am out in a nightclub and everyone else is doing it. I am bored, and they all seem to be having a very good time, ergo if I were drinking I would be having a good time? Perhaps, but I choose not to go there anyway.
I was enjoying reading this thread but I wasn’t going to chime in (why drink? a good question, but also a little bit silly) until I read the post from kniz.
Kniz-- how many people have you met (over age 5) who do not understand that alcohol is legal to consume and marijuana is not? Why is this a pet peeve of yours? Is there a problem with some folks (including possibly the OPer) preferring pot over booze? One could easily start a “Why smoke pot?” thread and get similar posts as this thread (feels good, relaxes, lowers stress, etc.). Does the whole illegal thing even matter to anyone? (that is, other than to the Chicago Reader, and a FEW cops and DAs) Pot smokers aren’t too bummed by the illegality because they know that they are not hurting anyone (save possibly themselves, if the pot is abused).
To the OPer, kniz and everyone else: Take whatever holy food unto yourself that you see fit to-- if that’s a litre of heroin or a pint of ale, it’s your biz… just don’t drag anyone else into your private joy/hell. And if you choose not to use, that’s kosher too.
Cheers.