This is going to get me more hate than I typically take, which seems like an impressive feat, but there is something I don't get, I really just don't get it. Never have, never will. Don't get me wrong, I've heard the reasons, but I just can't comprehend how people abide by such a concept. I am especially confounded by how it could become so accepted in daily life to the point where you are an outcast for not doing it. What you ask? Drinking alcohol. I don't have the expletives in my vocabulary to convey just how utterly and completely stupid it is. As a disclaimer, I have never had an alcoholic beverage, but grew up in a small town of ~3000 that was plagued by drinking (especially under-aged), and currently live in a city of 200k+ where drinking is the number one pass time. I have been around drinkers all my life, so while not being a drinker myself I am extremely familiar with the culture.
To start things off, let's go through a quick, non-extensive list of all the reasons it is totally and completely terrible:
- It kills your brain cells among other life long health conditions it can cause
- It can all out kill you
- You lose all mental inhibitions and good judgment, often putting yourself in a compromising situation
- You lose a degree of physical coordination and reaction time, causing the problem of drunk driving, killing many people and injuring countless others every year.
- It is expensive
- It starts to consume people's lives, ruining families, jobs, friends, etc
- People lose perception of just how bad their drinking is, because drinking effects their memory and perceptions
- It is habit forming, often becoming a HAVE-TO rather than a want-to or social activity
- It gets you into friendship circles where it is not only normal but expected that you drink
- Being around you gets other people caught up in this disgraceful habit
- You look like a complete moron
Yes, I understand there are people that can keep themselves totally under control, have 1 or 2 beers and be done. The problem is that a vast majority of people who say they do this are lying by about 3 drinks if not more. If you are one of those people that has one glass of wine a day for health, you win, this doesn't apply to you.
I understand that people drink to socialize. I don't understand why people think mind altering chemicals are necessary for interactions. If the people around you are so terrible and dull, you need to be around new people, not use alcohol to try to make them seem amusing. I know some people drink to forget their problems, but it ends up just making things worse, so that isn't a good reason either. It takes like poop wrapped in burnt monkey butt hair. It costs money. So, it fails as a problem solver, fails as a tasteful pleasure, and it is unnecessary as a social catalyst, yet people continue to waste money on it. If you have a good explanation for this, please comment below and enlighten me. Otherwise, let's go on an adventure together, and analyze my list item by item on why alcohol is moronic.
Easy place to start at number 1. Alcohol kills your braincells, we know this. It damages your liver among other organs, we all know this. People continue to choose to get completely wasted day in and day out, crushing their bodies. You might be 23 and resiliant now, but that booze is going to cause damage you might not feel now, but your body will never recover from. This is simple medical information, not opinion. I may as well address number 2 in this spot since it goes hand in hand. It can outright kill you. Yup. Not only the long term effects, but short term alcohol poisoning. We all know people who have had alcohol contribute to their death, be it sudden poisoning, long term wear and tear, or a drunk driver. Why would you do this to yourself? Clearly, you are stupid if you drink just from reasons 1 and 2, but hey let's keep going for the sake of my 24 years of pent up rage.
Number 3, how huge of a reason you are. I can't count how many times I've heard stories about crazy things people have gotten into while they have been drinking due to their total lack of judgment. Way too many friends, coworkers, and classmates have told me about how they got in a huge fight with a friend, family member, boyfriend, or girlfriend because they were drunk and stupid. I've seen multi-year relationships, including marriages, fail due to completely stupid choices made while totally piss drunk. Beyond this, there are countless stories of embarrassment, such as telling very personal information, or doing something batshit insane, while drunk. Past even this, how about going the extra mile. People sometimes try illegal drugs while drunk because they aren't thinking straight, or end up sleeping with a total stranger. Losing your judgment is losing the part of you that has made you the person you are today. Why would you WANT to lose control of yourself? I don't understand why people desire to consume alcohol so they can go make a fool out of themselves, potentially do something dangerous, not remember the details outside of what their possibly slightly less drunk friends tell them about it, and do this repeatedly week after week.
Number 4 is something we have all been beat over the head about, so I don't find it necessary to dwell here. Drunk driving injuries and deaths are 100% preventable in 100% of cases. There is no reason for anyone to die or get hurt by a drunk driver, ever. One death is too many, one injury is too many. Alcohol is stupid and shouldn't be legal. Moving on...
Five, again,is simple. Drinking quickly gets expensive. I know way too many people that can hardly pay their basic bills and living expenses, but go out and drink every night. I don't get this... people don't get that spending 30dollars a week on booze adds up to 120 a month (1440 a year!) that can go to rent, insurance, and car payments. I make less money than many people I see struggling to make ends meet, and I get by just fine. I'm not that great with finances, and will impulse buy things I don't need every time I go near a Gamestop or Best Buy, but I can still pay the bills. Stop drinking and feed your kid with the cash you save.
Number six has had countless books and TV specials all about it. People run their careers, marriages, and lives into the ground because they drink and make terrible choices. People go to work hung over and lose their jobs. They go into debt because they can't control themselves. Their wives/husbands leave them because they aren't themselves while drinking, and possibly become abusive while drunk. People think they have it all under control, and that only crazy alcoholics have this kind of crazy stuff happen. Well this ties all too well into number 7 on the list.
People have no clue how much they drink at all, especially while drinking it. Alcohol messing with your brain, screwing up judgment and even memory, causes people to think they can handle more booze or think they haven't had that much when they are already piss drunk. I am amazed at how people underestimate how much they have had, and how it is effecting them. People get in car accidents and blow 10 points over the limit on Breathalyzers and are shocked when they get taken in because they only had “one or two” drinks. Right...those 2 bears had you blow a 0.2, and you are totally in your right mind and not a danger on the road.....Yup, drinking begets more drinking. Good plan people.
Eight and 9 on my list go hand in hand. You get addicted. Now what? Drinking every few nights is becoming a MUST rather than a social activity or a want-to ocassional pass time. Now you are getting caught up in circles of friends that go drink 3-5 nights a week. You drink more, get more addicted, and make worse choices, and become more dangerous. People walk into work and before they get started on actual work they need to chat with their coworker about how they are still recovering from last night's crazy party. HELLO PEOPLE! How much does it take for you to realize you have an issue? You walk into a professional environment and you still need to talk about your drinking. You have a problem. And you are hanging out with people that are worsening this problem. Congratulations, you just got yourself caught in a vicious cycle that will destroy your life.
Ten bothers me, a lot. I've seen great people get wrecked because their friends broke them down and dragged them to a bar and got them started with drinking. Now, I realize people make their own choices, but you can't deny the power of peer pressure. It is hard being an outcast, I speak from a great deal of personal experience. Not everyone has great enough willpower to turn down people pressuring them to drink. Yes, they do partially share in the blame for getting started, but so do the people pressuring them. If someone doesn't want to drink, LEAVE THEM ALONE. If you actually view them as a friend, accept their choice. You are already ruining your own life, you don't need to drag other people down with you.
Oh number 11, how so few people will understand you. I understand you, number 11, in fact you are my favorite. Drinking shows people what little judgment you have. Drinking shows people you can't deal with your problems, and don't know how to socialize without the aid of mind altering chemicals. You look like an idiot when drinking is your choice pass time. I know, not many people will see number 11 as I see it. I'm not very judgmental, and I have difficulty putting this one into words that I am satisfied with. Saying that I look down on people that are letting alcohol take a significant foothold in their life doesn't quite sound right to me, but it is the best words I can think of to describe it in an easy to understand way at the moment. Maybe it is me lashing out against all the crap I've taken for NOT drinking that causes me think this way about it. Again, I feel the need to reiterate that if you are one of the few that ACTUALLY (not just thinks/believes) drinks little, I'm ok with that. I will be honest, I obviously think alcohol should be illegal, but it is true that hasn't worked so well for other drugs, and maybe law enforcement has bigger issues to deal with, but this is a different discussion. If you are one of the very few handling it appropriately, I won't hold it against you. My problem stems from that 95%+ of people aren't handling it appropriately, and of that 95%, 99% of them think they are handling it perfectly well (made up percentages to stress points=winning).
It is crazy how much alcohol has influenced my life when I've never had a drink and my parents didn't have problems with it when I was growing up either. Alcohol has made me a social outcast, and really causes people to get a misconception of me. Many people think I'm an introvert, and some think I'm flat out anti-social, while the people that actually know me will know this is completely not true. The thing is, if you are a drinker, I'm not going to partake in your pass time EVER, and don't want ANYTHING to do with it. As such, I will not go hang out with you at the bar, which is what you define as socializing and hanging out. I don't want to be involved in your conversations/story time about drinking. Hey, look, that's what you talk about 80% of the time, so I will not be involved in 80% of your conversations. Now I look anti-social. If you want to go smash up some King's Relic in Dungeon Fighter Online, deck out a new barbarian in Diablo 2, frag some fools in Quake 2, have a round of nostalgia on the slew of classic SNES games, battle the swarm in Starcraft 2, or exchange some strategies for Demon Souls, I'm totally game for that. I'm not anti-social, I just don't like your choice of activities, so we won't interact much. I always find it interesting when I find someone with similar opinions about alcohol, as this is a very rare occurrence. Maybe it is simply the area I've grown up in, but really I've only met maybe 5 people tops that think this way. I almost feel the need to thank them for not being complete fools. Anyway, if this post ever works its way into the masses, please comment, complain, or question, I'd be interested in intelligent discussion about this, not that I'm unreasonable enough to think an intelligent discussion would happen.
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