I’ll accept the fact that not everyone that takes a drink will become an alcoholic or die DWI, but there is a chance. When people drink, they do things they would not normally do. This is one of the plus sides?
On the other hand, consumption of alcohol does not:
In my personal experience there is so much to be lost and I know of nothing to be gained. Any takers?
But say you and I live together and my consumption of alcohol will:
There’s a world of difference between drinking in moderation and drinking with the goal of being drunk.
One drink or two doesn’t make me do anything I wouldn’t ordinarily do. It just causes a pleasant sensation, relaxes my inhibitions a little bit, shifts my worries to the back of my mind, and makes jokes a little funnier.
I never drink to get drunk- the few times it’s happened, it’s because I misjudged the strength of a drink or my own level of hunger or tiredness.
I like the relaxed, merry feeling I get when I drink in moderation. Being drunk is scary and unpleasant, in my opinion, and a completely different animal.
And no matter how drunk you are, you always can choose not to drive. It would never occur to me to get in the car when I’ve been drinking, whether a lot or a little.
Many pleasant things in life carry risks. Sex, definitely. But if you are aware of your surroundings and do things in moderation the risks are lessened.
That is the one thing that convinces me that the government can play a useful role in social engineering. When I was a teenager my friends and I drove while drunk far too often. It never occurred to any of us that we were taking any great risk - you can do most other things perfectly well while drunk (chat up women, play pool, play touch football, dance, tell a joke, carry on a conversation).
When advertising began about the dangers of drunk driving, and it became common knowledge I was thankful that I had got through that period without killing myself or anyone else. To my teenage sons it is self evident that you don’t drink and drive.
Well, in South America there is, or was, a tribe of Indians that would mix blood and snot, allow it to ferment, then consume (drink) it.
So, I am saying that it is man’s nature to get ripped occasionally. Fulfilling one’s destiny so to speak. (But then, I don’t drink anymore) 
Surely you have read the many media reports that MODERATE consumption of alcohol can be beneficial. The red wine connection has been widely circulated, and some have suggested that one drink per day of any alcohol can be good for many of us.
IANAD, and I am not in any way suggesting that teetotalers, or anyone else, should start with alcohol if they don’t want to, or that this applies universally.
If you’re in a place where water supplies are suspect, beer or wine is a wonderful alternative. (Sure beats Montezuma’s Revenge and the like.) People have been consuming these beverages for thousands, if not millions, of years. As soon as you get large concentrations of people in cities, the water can easily become a source of nasties like cholera and dysentery.
It’s excess that does the harm, just like consuming fatty foods. One nice juicy cheeseburger won’t hurt you. A constant diet of them will.
To get drunk!
Anyone want to know why I roll smoke?
I really want to know why you must live out the songs that you wrote.
Fuck off you cretinous twerp: there is a risk to anything: open your mouth and a wasp might fly in and sting you, causing you to suffocate.
We don’t have to drink alcohol. Some of us enjoy the taste of beers, ciders, wines, and spirits. Some of us don’t. Some of us are a mixture: I like cider, wine, and port, but dislike beer and spirits. In moderation, it does no harm and may do some good. And until recently, drinking beer was safer than drinking water. Just as we choose to drink, so we may choose not to: I haven’t had any alcohol for some days. I might have a drink later today; I might not.
I like the ritual of it. There’s something grounding in having friends over and mixing a cocktail before dinner. Or enjoying a really good glass of wine. Or having a beer while barbecuing on a really hot summer day that was spent at the beach.
I enjoy drinking alcohol for the same reason I enjoy drinking a cup of tea on Sunday morning while doing the crossword.
I grew up with parents who drank socially but responsibly. The idea was never to get drunk, but to enjoy friends, food & drink. The same way you can occasionally enjoy a really rich chocolate truffle without it turning into a obesity-causing bingefest.
I won’t argue intellegence now, but at least some of the time we’re pleasanter and attractiver drunk imho.
For most of us, becoming an alcoholic or dying DWI is a very remote chance. Taking even small precautions will more than likely prevent those circumstances. Hell, I take a bigger risk every time I accept and fill a prescription for an antibiotic from my doctor. Of course the probable rewards from the antibiotic are greater, and more meaningful, but I do incur a bigger chance that I will die of an allergic reaction.
I don’t HAVE to drink, though I enjoy an occasional glass of wine, mug of beer, or mixed drink. In fact, I don’t believe that I’ve had any alcohol for at least 3 or 4 months now. I like having the option available to me, but I don’t have to take it, and I certainly don’t have to choose between never drinking at all and getting bombed out of my skull. I’ve never been more than a little bit tipsy.
When I was growing up, one of the family rituals was Sunday night dinner. We all had to get dressed in decent clothes (this was in the 60s and 70s, so “decent” meant nothing too revealing or too hippielike) and we all sat down to a fairly nice dinner. We used, if appropriate, salad forks, dinner forks, dessert spoons, and all the other bits of silverware that we usually omitted during regular family meals. In addition, from about the age of six on up, we were given watered wine with the meal. At this meal, we drank water and wine, not iced tea, soda, or anything else. This meal ritual helped us learn how to cope with various fiddly bits of silverware, and it completely took away any mystique that alcohol might have had for us.
Of course, my father was also famous for giving us a VERY small drink of Scotch if we had a cruddy throat. He said, and I believe him, that it would help clear out the crud as effectively as any cough syrup. None of us ever claimed to have a cruddy throat just to get a bit of Scotch. And it was YEARS before I learned that a nice Scotch over ice can be sipped and enjoyed.
My parents both enjoy an occasional drink, but I’ve never seen either of them really drunk. I’ve seen both of them somewhat tipsy, but never drunk. I think that seeing them enjoy alcohol without abusing it has helped me do the same.
Why do I drink? Because I like the taste of it. Because it helps me relax after a long day at work. Because it’s fun to try new mixed drinks with friends. Because it staves off panic attacks for me once they’re impending.
Because I can?
You don’t need to eat food that tastes good. You only need basic nutrients to survive. You take risks to try different kinds of food; eating out, for example, is always a risk of food poisoning. Yet, we do it. Why? Because it’s enjoyable.
I drink a substantial amount, and I can’t say that alcohol makes me do something I wouldn’t normally do. If you’re drinking that much, then that’s a problem. It just makes the things I do more enjoyable for a little while. It’s relaxing, and makes get-togethers with friends fun.
I love it: “Why the fuck do you have to drink?”
Does the word “choice” have any place in your vocabulary?
Why the fuck do you choose to be so antagonistic?
I hardly ever drink. I can’t stand the taste of beer or most kinds of alcohol.
But, booze is not a bad thing. Some people will become addicted. Some people will drive drunk. Most people won’t.
When I get together with my friends, most of them have a few beers. Their behavior doesn’t really change.
Why do we drink?
“There are, I think
Four reasons why we drink,
Good friends,
Good wine,
Lest we be dry,
And any other reason why.”
As far as I know, the first records of beer come from the Egyptians. If booze was going to destroy the human race, I think it would have done it by now.
I drink, usually a glass of wine or a modest cocktail every night. I enjoy the feeling of relaxation and well being, as well as the taste.
Occaisonally, I even drink to get drunk! If I’m in the right mood, I enjoy the feeling of being completely smashed and oblivious to the world.
I’m not dependent on it, either mentally or physically. I don’t drive if I’ve had more then 1 drink per hour. Save for my first couple of parties as a new drinker (negative experiences I blame on a lack of exposure to alcohol), it’s never had a negative effect on my life.
Alcohol brings me mental pleasure, physical benefits, and relaxes my (stiff) social inhibitions. I never would have known the joy of dancing in a club if it weren’t for a few double long islands! Hooray for booze!
Well, I have to drink because people generally die after about three days without water.
I choose to occassionally imbibe alcoholic beverages because I like the feeling of being tipsy. For me, part of being drunk is that sound gets percieved as touch, so a long island and a stereo is a decent massage. This is a plus, as is the feeling of warmpth.
As for your arguments about alcohol, yes there is a chance that I could become an alcoholic. Its very small, but I’m willing to accept it as I do the chance that I will be hit by an asteroid while going to class, hit by a car while crossing the street, or any of the rest of the risks that are involved with living. Everyone has to create for themselves a risk threshold, mine is high enough to include drinking alcohol under certain circumstances, but not others.
There is no chance that I will ever drive drunk. One of my (many) personal rules involving when I do and do not drink is that I do not drink when there is a possibility I will be required to drive. Or be required to ride with someone who has been drinking. That is above my risk threshold. (Excluding space aliens attacking the planet or some other far fetched, unforeseeable emergency. ) The closest I’ll get to a drunk driver is muscling some idiot’s keys away from them or getting mushed by one myself.
As for doing things that I normally wouldn’t do, again, this is not applicable to me. I have placed more limits on my actions when I am under the influence than I have in general daily life. Precisely because I do not trust my judgement when chemically augmented, I have far more rules of behavior for myself when tipsy than not. Alcohol is not and never will be an excuse for me. You may not believe me, and that’s fine. You may not have the self awareness, trust and control needed for such a strategy, and that’s fine too.
There are many things that I have been told do not make me more intelligent, attractive or pleasant to be with. (Most recently I was told that being intelligent made me less attractive and pleasant to be with. Facinating.) This might matter if I cared about your opinion of my intellect, appearance or personality. As it is, I’ll stick with my own and my friends’ opinions. Which are based on far more telling aspects of behavior than an occasional choice of beverage.