BushAxe, post: 434529, member: 11897 wrote: ..I also grew up in a culture of heavy drinking and smoking...I consider myself lucky that I was able to escape that heavy party culture. Some were not as lucky. There are a few that wound up dead and a few that wish they were....
My generation (graduating HS in the late sixties) had its share of fool hardy members. I can't tell you the number of funerals I've attended and had to listen to Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky"....bleeck...One particularly humor oriented decedent requested that a disclaimer be posted on the wall of life photos at his memorial..."Kids, don't try this at home". I had to chuckle.
And even though the cultures and mores seem to have moved in a more intelligent direction, there are still fool hardy folks. I have some friends whose son screwed up his liver big time by "living healthy" and taking massive doses of vitamins daily. He's on the transplant list.
There is no law in the US against being stupid. Some people relish in that fact. Alcohol, tobacco, weed, prescription drugs, high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated animal fat all fall in the same category; possible "humanacides". Easy dose it...
A woman told me once that she didn't drink because she was "allergic to alcohol". She said that it makes her get rowdy and real mean. She also said a lot of people are allergic to it but just don't know it. Since then, I have met different people that said things like "I don't drink because it makes me real rowdy" or that kind of thing. (not the same as being addicted per se, but it made me realize how powerful of a mind-changing drug it is for some people)
Tom Adams, post: 434536, member: 7285 wrote: A woman told me once that she didn't drink because she was "allergic to alcohol". She said that it makes her get rowdy and real mean. She also said a lot of people are allergic to it but just don't know it. Since then, I have met different people that said things like "I don't drink because it makes me real rowdy" or that kind of thing. (not the same as being addicted per se, but it made me realize how powerful of a mind-changing drug it is for some people)
There's an old joke about a young lady that felt she was probably allergic to alcohol....because every time she drank she would wake up the next morning with soreness in "certain parts" of her female anatomy...;)
I think for a lot of people part of the appeal of drinking is that it enables you to do things that you would never do if you were sober. I was painfully shy prior to joining the Navy and definitely used alcohol as a means to loosen up in social situations. It took me a long time to figure out that if one is good ten isn't exponentially better...
paden cash, post: 434537, member: 20 wrote: There's an old joke about a young lady that felt she was probably allergic to alcohol....because every time she drank she would wake up the next morning with soreness in "certain parts" of her female anatomy...;)
I think I met that girl one night in late 1995. 🙂
I stopped drinking 5 years ago as my style of drinking didn't fit with the responsibilities of raising a family and career obligations. Still haven't dropped the smoking habit though. Instead of going to the bar after work, I head to the coffee shop before driving home. I reserve the option to resume a little moderate drinking at a later phase of life when things have settled down, but my wife doesn't like hearing about this much.
roger_LS, post: 434548, member: 11550 wrote: I stopped drinking 5 years ago as my style of drinking didn't fit with the responsibilities of raising a family and career obligations. Still haven't dropped the smoking habit though. Instead of going to the bar after work, I head to the coffee shop before driving home. I reserve the option to resume a little moderate drinking at a later phase of life when things have settled down, but my wife doesn't like hearing about this much.
Thankfully I am only familiar with "retracing" alcohol use (or abuse) from occupying a close proximity to its details. I have friends that sobered up 40 years ago and haven't touched a drop since then. I have friends (and family) that have stuck with a program for those 40 years and still can't go 365 days without twisting off. I am a firm believer that the earlier one makes intelligent decisions about any self-medication the better off they are.
Momma Cash use to tell people Pops "had a problem with drinking"....to that I have always said "BS". The man had NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER drinking. He drank anytime he felt like it, but only on days (and nights) that ended in "Y". The "problem" is actually borne by those that are fixed to endure a life associated with a drunk. And I have always felt that in itself is a choice also.
Needless to say any friends or family that winds up in the pokey or with their car wrapped around a tree because of drinking knows better than to call me for "help". .... 'nuff said..
Both parents were very rare drinkers (Daddy like himself a Tom Collins when we'd go to the Dam Site Inn in Northern Michigan), but I think I got scared off drinking by my 8th grade Health teacher. She said that there was a connection between alcoholics and people with a sweet tooth--and I was a sugar fiend at the time. Anyway, never like beer, wine coolers (which became popular when I was in college) eh, nor wine. I do like a decent rum, but have pretty much given that up too. Very occasionally, I'll have a margarita on-the-rocks or a mojito.
mkennedy, post: 434553, member: 7183 wrote: She said that there was a connection between alcoholics and people with a sweet tooth--and I was a sugar fiend at the time.
funny, i've heard that, but in the inverse sense. as in: that kid who doesn't like candy is gonna grow up to be a drunk. couple of guys i grew up with and one old roommate certainly fit the bill. the old roommate said his grandmother told him the same thing, and that he was going to grow up to be an alcoholic.
bama7x57, post: 433926, member: 12571 wrote: I don't drink either.
Sometimes I feel like I need to take a sleeping pill. Some nights I can't get a job out of my head. I'm rotating deeds and closing sections in my mind all night long.
I guess I shouldn't complain, I have figured out several problems by "sleeping on it".
I don't know how many boundaries over the years that I went to sleep thinking about and woke up with the answer, but it has been several.
I drink mostly scotch and sometimes bourbon. A beer is nice after a long day as well. I have little kids so I pretty much don't drink until they've gone to bed. Usually I'm pretty beat by then so I only have time for one or two before it's off to bed myself.
When I started going to LSPS meetings in the early '90's there were always huge ice chests full of beer, and everyone partook. Same thing at conventions, etc. Now you'll never see beer at a meeting, unless it's held at a restaurant, and not even then depending on what part of the state you're in.
Lee D, post: 434623, member: 7971 wrote: When I started going to LSPS meetings in the early '90's there were always huge ice chests full of beer, and everyone partook.
First time I went to the TSPS seminar in Concan, there was a keg on the patio.
I drink. But I don't drink to excess. I just like the taste of good whiskey and beer.
Joe the Surveyor, post: 434666, member: 118 wrote: I drink. But I don't drink to excess. I just like the taste of good whiskey and beer.
I don't do anything halfway. All or none. Which is why I decided to quit.
Andy Nold, post: 434669, member: 7 wrote: All or none. Which is why I decided to quit.
That's not the *reason* I decided to quit, but it certainly figured into the equation. I never saw the utility of having *a* beer; six or eight, sure, but why bother with just one?
Jim Frame, post: 434702, member: 10 wrote: I never saw the utility of having *a* beer; six or eight, sure, but why bother with just one?
That's the total opposite of me. I drink pretty much two beers a day after work, and three to four on weekends. I'm not trying to get drunk, but just enjoy the taste and activity of having a couple.
I feel bad for those who can't have two, and then stop. I'd hate to give it up. Like one coffee in the morning is pretty much my routine. Couldn't imagine having more than one, or any after 10 am.
JPH, post: 434718, member: 6636 wrote: That's the total opposite of me. I drink pretty much two beers a day after work, and three to four on weekends. I'm not trying to get drunk, but just enjoy the taste and activity of having a couple.
I feel bad for those who can't have two, and then stop. I'd hate to give it up. Like one coffee in the morning is pretty much my routine. Couldn't imagine having more than one, or any after 10 am.
Coffee all day...the whiskey at night cancels it out and makes it easier to fall asleep. I'm sure this is not a very healthy routine
Worked with a lady many years ago who needed a third appendage on the upper body. She had a cigarette in one hand and a coffee cup in the other constantly during the work day. One or the other would find a temporary resting place when forced to free up a hand to do something like answer a phone or grab a pencil.
Holy Cow, post: 434757, member: 50 wrote: Worked with a lady many years ago who needed a third appendage on the upper body. She had a cigarette in one hand and a coffee cup in the other constantly during the work day. One or the other would find a temporary resting place when forced to free up a hand to do something like answer a phone or grab a pencil.
My first indoor job with an engineering company was in 1971. My drafting table was next to an older employee named Wanda. We shared a drawer and tools that was centered between our drafting tables. Wanda smoked like a locomotive and by afternoon usually had slurred speech with a hint of gin on her breath. I wondered why they allowed her to continue but soon realized her abilities. The woman was a Leroy virtuoso.
Her template would slide on the parallel bar and make a "slap" as she got to the correct letter. It literally sounded like a typewriter as she Leroyed. She could complete an entire 24x36 sheet of dedications in about a half a day...mere mortals have slaved over them for days.
I saw several times she was so pickled by the end of the day the boss would drive her home (in her car) and someone would have to follow them to give the boss a ride back to his car.
ps - I never saw her make a mistake or misspell a word.