One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough. James Thurber
I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I'm under the table,
after four I'm under my host.
— Dorothy Parker
On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties
41–50 of 170 posts
Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties
#42I have to admit I simply don't understand drinking alcohol. Apparently it affects me differently from most people. The only effects I get are that I feel tired, and my field of vision narrows. Neither of those are pleasant. I wish I knew how other people feel when they drink alcohol.
For me, I definitely felt the full range of physical effects but I also didn't really enjoy it all that much. I drank an unhealthy amount in my early 20s due to social situations. It was kinda fun, then I'd just had enough. I never "quit" and still drink occasionally but I have absolutely no compulsion to drink and it doesn't do much for my mood.
Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties
#43I have to admit I simply don't understand drinking alcohol. Apparently it affects me differently from most people. The only effects I get are that I feel tired, and my field of vision narrows. Neither of those are pleasant. I wish I knew how other people feel when they drink alcohol.
I like to drink more than I ought to (and less than I used to), but your assessment sounds not exactly but a lot like how I feel about cannabis. At any THC dose enough to feel at all, it’s almost always tunnel vision and time dilation and anxiety, and all I want is to go be alone to wait it out. All side effects, no joy there. If I’m lucky enough to hit the perfect mark of low dose but perceptible effects, I like it…
Everyone reacts to chemicals in their own way, but I think what you’re describing might be more related to general anxiety than to a particular chemical. It may exacerbate these feelings but I don’t think it’s ever really the root cause
Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties
#44Not to mention the money you save. I was recently at a cocktail bar for a party. I think the cheapest cocktail was $17, but most were between $20-$30. And most people had at least two. Meanwhile a lot of these places have cheap food (to encourage you to drink more), so I'm there in the corner scoffing my $4 pizza and $3 diet coke. Heh heh heh, suckers...
Wait until you add in the recreational drugs, gambling with darts/pool, getting midnight pizzas delivered, drunk drivings...
Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties
#45Not to mention the money you save. I was recently at a cocktail bar for a party. I think the cheapest cocktail was $17, but most were between $20-$30. And most people had at least two. Meanwhile a lot of these places have cheap food (to encourage you to drink more), so I'm there in the corner scoffing my $4 pizza and $3 diet coke. Heh heh heh, suckers...
What were in these cocktails? Gold and gemstones?
The (really good, fairly pricey, good service) cocktail bars that I have gone to in SF and NYC charge less than $17 for their normal cocktails (and the only one I've seen that had a $30 price tag was because it used Remy Martin XO)
Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties
#46This sounds very strange to the uninitiated, but I grew up in a part of the punk music scene that was rebelling against drugs and alcohol. As someone who has never had a drink, I've never seen the appeal, and I always wonder why more people don't give it up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_edge
Wikipedia Straight Edge is the link bellow
Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties
#47This sounds very strange to the uninitiated, but I grew up in a part of the punk music scene that was rebelling against drugs and alcohol. As someone who has never had a drink, I've never seen the appeal, and I always wonder why more people don't give it up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_edge
Your comment made me try this URL which works : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sXe
even better: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/xvx
Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties
#48Time to plug "The Sinclair Method" again. https://www.google.com/search?q=the+sinclair+method
TL;DR: The method consists of "consumption of alcohol in combination with the prescription medication Naltrexone. ... When you take Naltrexone prior to drinking, it blocks endorphins, the naturally occurring opiates in the brain, from being released when alcohol is consumed [so] there is no “buzz” or rewarding experience, and the alcohol doesn’t make you feel the pleasure that drives you to drink excessively."
Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties
#49I have to admit I simply don't understand drinking alcohol. Apparently it affects me differently from most people. The only effects I get are that I feel tired, and my field of vision narrows. Neither of those are pleasant. I wish I knew how other people feel when they drink alcohol.
I was exposed to alcohol from around 13. Under age drinking is a pandemic where I'm from.
I never was a heavy drinker. I mostly stopped for religious purposes and out of personal conviction when I was 20.
On the personal conviction part, I always say that I prefer being in control of my faculties. Fast response times (esp when driving), situational awareness, control over what I say and do.
I don't know about other people: when I'm tipsy I'll do or say something, then a few seconds later I would say to myself "this isn't something I would have said/done". That alone has been enough to dissuade me.
I drink "on occasion with an annual quota". I find that to be a great personal goal because when in a situation where alcohol is offered to me, I almost always abstain.
Then again, I don't drink coffee as I jokingly say that caffeine is a drug (I don't judge anyone, it's something I say when asked why I don't drink it). I drink things with a significant amount of caffeine when offered and it's the only alternative, like cola.
Re: On why I gave up drinking in my early twenties
#50I stopped drinking regularly once I realized how many empty calories are in alcohol. It’s diluted poison that ruins your sleep and makes you fat. It’s just suboptimal to be consuming on a regular basis. The psychological effects can be fun but the negative health impact does not seem worth it