Last night folks planning the yearly Fun Fair at Elli's school went out together to do a bunch of organizational work. The best way to do that sort of thing is to go to someplace where you can get dinner and drinks with your work and we should always do things the best way, no? I was the odd one out being both the only male in the group and also the only one not ordering any alcohol. Well, that and I was barefoot and came in carrying a whole pizza... I don't like to blend, ok? At least I provide the ladies with entertainment.
It is a bit strange being around a group where everyone is drinking (very lightly, mind) and not indulging myself. People tend to look at me strangely wondering why exactly I don't take part in the festivities myself. They are possibly worried that I am judging them or wondering if I am a recovering alcoholic or something but the answers are stranger than that. For one I hate the taste of alcohol and for two I feel like I am drunk all the time in a lot of ways.
Once they get a few in them most people start being much more open to talking about taboo topics, exude overt sexuality, and reveal secrets about themselves. People being to start their sentences with things like "Okay, so there was this one time with this guy/gal and we were SO drunk..." I love that stuff all the time. I am very happy to discuss the most personal topics on the drop of a hat and I find conversations about sex, relationships, and such endlessly entertaining without a drop of booze in my system.
This tends to mean I love being around drunk people because they act the way I want to act all the time. The drunker they get the less I have to edit myself and the more open and honest I can be. When everyone else has a drink or two and their filters and inhibitions begin to melt away I fit in better and have a wonderful time. Me getting drunk doesn't help much in this regard - I mostly just get really damn loud and that isn't much good to anybody. The inhibition that alcohol removes in me is just my volume control and I don't think other people are really sitting around wishing I would just shout more; they get plenty of that when I rant cold sober.
I occasionally choose to describe my alcohol-free nature as "the few inhibitions I do have are probably there for a reason".
ReplyDeleteSnuggles
I think the same thing, though I wouldn't quantify my inhibitions as being 'few'.
ReplyDeleteI don't think our inhibitions are generally there for a reason. Mostly they seem to get in the way of having a good time in my experience.
ReplyDeleteHow many good times need to be earned to offset the brawls, assaults, and rapes that lowered inhibitions facilitate?
ReplyDeleteI think you greatly overestimate the brawls, assaults, and rapes that might occur. There is a world of difference between hanging out at home and having a couple drinks and getting smashed out of your tree at a bar. Most drinking to lower inhibitions and have fun has absolutely nothing to do with violence and everything to do with exciting conversations.
ReplyDeleteEven if I am overestimating it, do you have an answer? 100 to 1? 1000000 to 1?
ReplyDeleteIf everyone who had a drink killed someone, we'd ban drinking. If no one who ever had a drink did anything bad there'd be nothing wrong at all. There has to be a line, or at least a fuzzy grey area, somewhere in between. I think as a whole we're way over the line and I won't contribute to it.
So here is the thing. You are putting forward 'drinking' as a single thing with specific effects on violence, mortality, etc. That is like putting forward 'moving from place to place' and mixing all deaths from driving together with walking from my living room to my bedroom. Drinking a glass of wine at home to unwind and feel fuzzy simply isn't the same category as going to a bar and having 12 shots in an hour to get falling down drunk. Totally different categories.
ReplyDeleteHow much experience do you have with sensible drinking? I know that I had similar feelings to yours about never getting drunk for years but increased exposure to responsible drinking completely turned me around. When all you see is people get shit faced it is hard to imagine how drinking could be a positive thing. I hated the 'party hard, get drunk, do incredibly stupid shit' culture in my grade school.
None, and I intend to keep it that way.
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