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Were you at all drunk yesterday? Or over the weekend? I would certainly expect so bearing in mind that it's the New Year, and your weekend will have been free of care. So can I safely assume that you had a typically British weekend and that your memories of it are somewhat hazy? Good...
It has been commented on that the British drink as if someone might suddenly take it away from them, and I am hard pressed to find any evidence to refute this. What does puzzle me is why we follow the same routine almost every weekend and with such little variation despite the fact that we invariably end up embarrassing either ourselves or our friends and are usually guilty of committing at least one act on a night out guaranteed to ensure one is left feeling foolish and awkward in the weeks to come.
However, if you were to talk to the person sitting nearest you right now about their weekend, I have little doubt that they will tell you what a fantastic time they had, wax boastfully as to the quantity of drink that they consumed, and perhaps even regale you with an outrageous tale of what happened when they/their friend/their pet finished their 12th pint and then ran into a policeman/former spouse/Lord Lucan. God knows, I'm pretty sure I would even though the events of the weekend past are pretty much a blur to me. This is despite the fact that I felt dreadful for most of Saturday, remedied this by starting drinking in the early evening thus guaranteeing further nausea on Sunday which saw me becoming a permanent fixture on the sofa alongside a large bottle of Coca-Cola and a permanently babbling (though for the most part vacantly stared at) TV.
Realistically, rather than feeling satisfied at a weekend spent either drunk or recovering, I suppose I should be filled with mortification at a weekend wasted, with nothing achieved other than a Friday night spent ranting incoherent rubbish at a couple of my friends, the majority of which I can't even remember (I’d apologise, but I suspect that they may feel equal measure of mild embarrassment for having done exactly the same...). I'm not though (although this is the first time I've actually thought about this in any detail and I have to say, thus far I'm a little perturbed and may even go so far as to not get drunk this coming weekend) and I suspect that you would be surprised at me if I was.
Alcohol has always played a large part in British life and culture. Like the rest of Europe, we made use of brewing technology at a very early stage in history. In pre-Roman times, drinking water was a dangerous thing to do as one was at risk of catching all manner of interesting diseases due to the lack of sanitation. Happily, the brewing process killed off any bacteria in the water thus ensuring that those who drank beer had a higher survival rate than those who stuck to untreated water. Natural selection being what it is, Britain gradually became an island whose inhabitants were quite merrily (not to mention merry) accustomed to downing pint after pint of beer.
As a side note, in the Far East they got round the problem of impure water by adding leaves to it and boiling it, thus producing tea. I am given to believe that there is not such a hard drinking culture in the East and I'd be intrigued to know whether anyone has looked into whether there is any connection between this and the historical points mentioned above.
And our drinking culture has actually served us rather well historically. It kept the peasantry drunk and satisfied during the Middle Ages, thus allowing them to endure any number of upheavals caused by kings and kingmakers during this turbulent time. It also ensured that none of them strung enough thoughts together to realise just what an unutterably s****y deal they were getting out of life, a much understated value of alcohol. In the time of the British Empire, our adversaries (the ones that we didn't obliterate anyway) commented with amazement on the fact that our soldiers fought with such valor and tenacity for their daily pay, of which by far the most important component was a pint of rum. Yes, each man daily drank a pint of rum, a concept that even the hardest drinkers among you should regard with a measure of respect and amazement.
It is only recently that alcohol has started to become a hindrance to our status as a world player. Whilst keeping ones workers permanently smahsed was considered advantageous when they were mill workers, labourers, soldiers, and subsistence farmers, it is less useful when trying to operate high-tech machinery, enter huge swathes of data into complicated computer systems, or work in any sort of high pressure business environment.
If one couples this with the reluctance to train people to any particular level of specialisation (presumably a hangover from our empire days where the upper classes preferred their subjects to be competent but not too bright so as not to highlight the failings of the upper class itself) then we can see that perhaps the government has one or two things to think about as they start making their plans for the new parliament.
This is not to say that I am becoming anti-alcohol; anyone who has ever been out with me will confirm that I have a long and meaningful love affair with all manner of wine and spirits. However, I do find it fascinating how we as a culture treat alcohol compared to the other drugs available for recreation. Alcohol, had it just been discovered, would almost certainly be criminalised as a class A drug due to the long term damage it causes to Liver, brain, heart etc, not to mention it's potential for overdose and addiction.
And addiction is what I am really driving at here. We shudder with horror at the thought of a heroin addict going through messy and painful withdrawal, and perhaps feel a sense of disdain at their lack of willpower for allowing themselves to get addicted in the first place. Okay, fine; I challenge you to give up alcohol for a year. Any takers? Come on, it's only a year! We expect drug users to give up their drugs for the rest of their lives, all I'm asking of you is a single year of not drinking alcohol, surely that's not too much to ask? But it is, isn't it? I don't imagine for a moment that I could give up drinking at this point in my life, and I salute anyone who thinks that they could.
I'm going to stop short of saying that we are a nation of people hopelessly addicted to a drug and that we are unable and unwilling to break that addiction (although the only reason I back away from saying something like that is due to my own unease at thinking in such terms even though this does seem to be the case). What I will finish on is by asking you to imagine a British society without alcohol and consider whether it would be better, and whether we would have nearly as much fun at weekends.
It has been commented on that the British drink as if someone might suddenly take it away from them, and I am hard pressed to find any evidence to refute this. What does puzzle me is why we follow the same routine almost every weekend and with such little variation despite the fact that we invariably end up embarrassing either ourselves or our friends and are usually guilty of committing at least one act on a night out guaranteed to ensure one is left feeling foolish and awkward in the weeks to come.
However, if you were to talk to the person sitting nearest you right now about their weekend, I have little doubt that they will tell you what a fantastic time they had, wax boastfully as to the quantity of drink that they consumed, and perhaps even regale you with an outrageous tale of what happened when they/their friend/their pet finished their 12th pint and then ran into a policeman/former spouse/Lord Lucan. God knows, I'm pretty sure I would even though the events of the weekend past are pretty much a blur to me. This is despite the fact that I felt dreadful for most of Saturday, remedied this by starting drinking in the early evening thus guaranteeing further nausea on Sunday which saw me becoming a permanent fixture on the sofa alongside a large bottle of Coca-Cola and a permanently babbling (though for the most part vacantly stared at) TV.
Realistically, rather than feeling satisfied at a weekend spent either drunk or recovering, I suppose I should be filled with mortification at a weekend wasted, with nothing achieved other than a Friday night spent ranting incoherent rubbish at a couple of my friends, the majority of which I can't even remember (I’d apologise, but I suspect that they may feel equal measure of mild embarrassment for having done exactly the same...). I'm not though (although this is the first time I've actually thought about this in any detail and I have to say, thus far I'm a little perturbed and may even go so far as to not get drunk this coming weekend) and I suspect that you would be surprised at me if I was.
Alcohol has always played a large part in British life and culture. Like the rest of Europe, we made use of brewing technology at a very early stage in history. In pre-Roman times, drinking water was a dangerous thing to do as one was at risk of catching all manner of interesting diseases due to the lack of sanitation. Happily, the brewing process killed off any bacteria in the water thus ensuring that those who drank beer had a higher survival rate than those who stuck to untreated water. Natural selection being what it is, Britain gradually became an island whose inhabitants were quite merrily (not to mention merry) accustomed to downing pint after pint of beer.
As a side note, in the Far East they got round the problem of impure water by adding leaves to it and boiling it, thus producing tea. I am given to believe that there is not such a hard drinking culture in the East and I'd be intrigued to know whether anyone has looked into whether there is any connection between this and the historical points mentioned above.
And our drinking culture has actually served us rather well historically. It kept the peasantry drunk and satisfied during the Middle Ages, thus allowing them to endure any number of upheavals caused by kings and kingmakers during this turbulent time. It also ensured that none of them strung enough thoughts together to realise just what an unutterably s****y deal they were getting out of life, a much understated value of alcohol. In the time of the British Empire, our adversaries (the ones that we didn't obliterate anyway) commented with amazement on the fact that our soldiers fought with such valor and tenacity for their daily pay, of which by far the most important component was a pint of rum. Yes, each man daily drank a pint of rum, a concept that even the hardest drinkers among you should regard with a measure of respect and amazement.
It is only recently that alcohol has started to become a hindrance to our status as a world player. Whilst keeping ones workers permanently smahsed was considered advantageous when they were mill workers, labourers, soldiers, and subsistence farmers, it is less useful when trying to operate high-tech machinery, enter huge swathes of data into complicated computer systems, or work in any sort of high pressure business environment.
If one couples this with the reluctance to train people to any particular level of specialisation (presumably a hangover from our empire days where the upper classes preferred their subjects to be competent but not too bright so as not to highlight the failings of the upper class itself) then we can see that perhaps the government has one or two things to think about as they start making their plans for the new parliament.
This is not to say that I am becoming anti-alcohol; anyone who has ever been out with me will confirm that I have a long and meaningful love affair with all manner of wine and spirits. However, I do find it fascinating how we as a culture treat alcohol compared to the other drugs available for recreation. Alcohol, had it just been discovered, would almost certainly be criminalised as a class A drug due to the long term damage it causes to Liver, brain, heart etc, not to mention it's potential for overdose and addiction.
And addiction is what I am really driving at here. We shudder with horror at the thought of a heroin addict going through messy and painful withdrawal, and perhaps feel a sense of disdain at their lack of willpower for allowing themselves to get addicted in the first place. Okay, fine; I challenge you to give up alcohol for a year. Any takers? Come on, it's only a year! We expect drug users to give up their drugs for the rest of their lives, all I'm asking of you is a single year of not drinking alcohol, surely that's not too much to ask? But it is, isn't it? I don't imagine for a moment that I could give up drinking at this point in my life, and I salute anyone who thinks that they could.
I'm going to stop short of saying that we are a nation of people hopelessly addicted to a drug and that we are unable and unwilling to break that addiction (although the only reason I back away from saying something like that is due to my own unease at thinking in such terms even though this does seem to be the case). What I will finish on is by asking you to imagine a British society without alcohol and consider whether it would be better, and whether we would have nearly as much fun at weekends.
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Possibly a collaboration between SKY Sports and the breweries of the land to make watching sport too expensive for the masses, and so they have to watch all decent events from a public house?
Belldandy wrote:
> ***Disclaimer*** The above is all "in my opinion". It is my
> thoughts on this and I am not suggesting they are 'the one true
> thoughts' on this. I no way am I suggesting I am right and someone
> else is wrong. This idea seems to confuse certain people. Thank
> you.***End Of Disclaimer***
That's the first post I've ever seen on here that came with a disclaimer. ;)
> ***Disclaimer*** The above is all "in my opinion". It is my
> thoughts on this and I am not suggesting they are 'the one true
> thoughts' on this. I no way am I suggesting I am right and someone
> else is wrong. This idea seems to confuse certain people. Thank
> you.***End Of Disclaimer***
That's the first post I've ever seen on here that came with a disclaimer. ;)
If people want to drink, and in many cases drink to excess, then it doesn't really bother me. It's their life after all.
What I do find disappointing is the degree to which most sport has become synonomous (may be spelling mistake their...) with alcohol. If you want to watch England on a big screen then you have to do so - with a few exceptions - in a pub, surrounded by people drinking. In a way, many sports have been used by the breweries just to pack people into the pubs to sell them more alcohol - in my opinion.
A British society without alcohol ? Interesting thought, though the end result would probably just be similar to a prohibition era America.
***Disclaimer*** The above is all "in my opinion". It is my thoughts on this and I am not suggesting they are 'the one true thoughts' on this. I no way am I suggesting I am right and someone else is wrong. This idea seems to confuse certain people. Thank you.***End Of Disclaimer***
~~Belldandy~~
What I do find disappointing is the degree to which most sport has become synonomous (may be spelling mistake their...) with alcohol. If you want to watch England on a big screen then you have to do so - with a few exceptions - in a pub, surrounded by people drinking. In a way, many sports have been used by the breweries just to pack people into the pubs to sell them more alcohol - in my opinion.
A British society without alcohol ? Interesting thought, though the end result would probably just be similar to a prohibition era America.
***Disclaimer*** The above is all "in my opinion". It is my thoughts on this and I am not suggesting they are 'the one true thoughts' on this. I no way am I suggesting I am right and someone else is wrong. This idea seems to confuse certain people. Thank you.***End Of Disclaimer***
~~Belldandy~~
Alcohol consumption seems to be the manner in which a man is measured.
I freely admit, since giving up lake-sized portions of booze, I have become a lightweight.
And that suits me, because I can mashed for a fraction of the price it takes a "real" man.
I freely admit, since giving up lake-sized portions of booze, I have become a lightweight.
And that suits me, because I can mashed for a fraction of the price it takes a "real" man.
What bewilders me is how some people down 15 pints in one night and survive.
2 pints for me and I'm skunk, anymore and I'm hopelessly sick.
If I'm honest I find the pint-swilling British drinking culture deeply offensive.
I dislike crowded pubs - why do I want to be crammed in a small space with 200 strangers.
And nightclubs - you'd have to pay me good money to go drinking in any town or city centre in England.
I could easily give up drinking for a year. It would be as easy as giving up lemons or something.
2 pints for me and I'm skunk, anymore and I'm hopelessly sick.
If I'm honest I find the pint-swilling British drinking culture deeply offensive.
I dislike crowded pubs - why do I want to be crammed in a small space with 200 strangers.
And nightclubs - you'd have to pay me good money to go drinking in any town or city centre in England.
I could easily give up drinking for a year. It would be as easy as giving up lemons or something.
Drinking is what makes us Brits great and also alcoholics.
In truth it is an evil drug that reduces most people to their basest level and their subconcious mind comes to the fore. Thus some people just get randy, some aggressive, some emotional and some just get another beer in.
As for me, I can drink 200 pints in one night and still run a marathon the next day, without needing a wee the whole night.
Why do some people, however, feel the compulsion to lie about their consumption levels?
In truth it is an evil drug that reduces most people to their basest level and their subconcious mind comes to the fore. Thus some people just get randy, some aggressive, some emotional and some just get another beer in.
As for me, I can drink 200 pints in one night and still run a marathon the next day, without needing a wee the whole night.
Why do some people, however, feel the compulsion to lie about their consumption levels?
When i was about 15 i was scared of drinking too much. I mean the first time you get properly drunk is going to be so unpredictable. Luckily enough i can control myself so i get drunk when i feel the the need to. Usually down the pub i just drink until i feel happy, house parties are a different case though.
*sigh*
It's all down to the people, which in the majority are unfortunately stupid people called Dave who like fighting, punching walls and mugging old women.
Apply same argument to drugs, guns etc.
It's all down to the people, which in the majority are unfortunately stupid people called Dave who like fighting, punching walls and mugging old women.
Apply same argument to drugs, guns etc.
Insane Bartender wrote:
>
> Everyone in the world likes a bit of tipple. So what if we do too?
I have to be honest; that's pretty much my opinion too. Still, when I first wrote this I had great fun watching my friends squirm at the idea of giving up booze for life...
>
> Everyone in the world likes a bit of tipple. So what if we do too?
I have to be honest; that's pretty much my opinion too. Still, when I first wrote this I had great fun watching my friends squirm at the idea of giving up booze for life...
Yep
I drank too much when I was 15 and thought I was sooooo cool because I could drink more than everyone.
Then one morning after I thought I was about to die and since then I have slowly cut down on drink.
It's good but I hate the British culture of down the pub every weekend to get guttered... you know the types... football yobs and the like.
I drank too much when I was 15 and thought I was sooooo cool because I could drink more than everyone.
Then one morning after I thought I was about to die and since then I have slowly cut down on drink.
It's good but I hate the British culture of down the pub every weekend to get guttered... you know the types... football yobs and the like.
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