I have a friend *coughHoovercough* that will often introduce me to people as "the Mormon". I realize that it's meant in a somewhat affectionate and joking manner, but I'm not going to lie, it's slightly irritating. I'm certainly not ashamed or embarrassed by the fact that I'm a Mormon, but I also certainly don't think that it is the only thing that defines me.
That being said though, it is a large part of who I am and why I do or don't do certain things. And I can't help but sometimes wonder what I would be like if I wasn't a Mormon and hadn't been raised with this specific belief structure.
For instance, would I drink? It's a hard question to answer. Obviously, if I hadn't been raised to not view drinking as something I shouldn't do, when the time came that I was exposed to it (high school) my attitude probably would have been very different and chances are I would have participated.
The better question might be, if I suddenly now decided to leave the Mormon church for some reason (not that I view this as a realistic "what-if") would I drink alcohol?
Honestly, I'm not sure. I can't remember a single time in my life where I seriously thought, "Boy, I sure wish I drank." It's never been something that I viewed as a pleasant vice to have. And even if it is a pleasant vice to have, very often it is paired with the unpleasantness of making an ass out of yourself to everyone around you.
I'm thinking specifically of a recent experience. On Halloween I went to a Smashing Pumpkins concert here in Columbus. I made the mistake of standing on the side of the pit with the bar. And let me tell you, this was a massive mistake. Picture yourself surrounded on all sides by drunken morons tanked completely out of their minds. There was moshing at this concert. Yes, moshing. Not fake moshing either. Drunken assholes throwing their full weight around, shoulders and elbows being thrown with no regard. An actual fist fight broke out between some tall, white trash bastard and Darth Vader. Yes, people were in costume. And I think alcohol must have some kind of deadening effect on the Force because let me tell you, Darth took an absolute beatdown. Add all that to the typical idiot standing right next to me, screaming at the top of his lungs for the one song he wanted the band to play (they didn't) while he tries (and several times, almost fails) to keep himself fully upright.
So when I witness things like this I just have to say...really? This is why people get drunk? To act like this? To do things that would be completely inexcusable in any other environment? Things that would cause me to be completely embarrassed for the next day and quite possibly require an apology? Gee, SIGN ME UP.
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3 comments:
It is important to remember that many people who enjoy drinking are capable of doing so without making a complete idiot of themselves.
The problem is, you don't think these people have been drinking, because they aren't acting 'drunk'. (In other words, they have been drinking a sensible amount). And therefore because you don't notice these, you only notice the utterly drunk morons as people who have been drinking and assume that all people who drink will behave like that at some point.
It's not so much the drink that's the problem as the person who acts like an idiot (or is an idiot for having too much).
I don't disagree with what you're saying except for me assuming that all people who drink act that way. That wasn't the point of my post. I did specify in the last paragraph that the question was "this is why people get drunk" not "this is why people drink".
I was certainly dealing with a small, very irritating subset of drinkers that night. And I have spent many occasions with friends who have only 1 or 2 drinks over the course of an evening.
But those same friends also go out and get plastered on a somewhat regular occasion. Even if they also regularly have to deal with throwing up, awful hangovers etc. They keep going back to it. That's the behavior that I really just don't understand.
Fair point. I go out and drink regularly (usually every week), and I'll get what I term 'drunk': which is where I feel a little tipsy/light-headed and start talking more nonsense than usual. Probably not what other people would term 'drunk'.
It's rare - say 3 occurrences in the last 12 years - that I drink so much that I have the throwing up thing, and I rarely have hangovers (pint of water by the bed to stop dehydrating). It's fair to say that I don't find the illness/bad hangover bits fun - which is why I try to avoid it.
And yeah, I was generalising a bit - sorry - as I've heard people say before "I don't understand why people do that" and it can be a bit 'banging-my-head-against-a-wall' trying to convince them that you can go out and have a few drinks and a nice time without vomiting over your shoes. Indeed, I'd suggest it is preferable.
I guess 'know your limits' is the mantra here!
PS enjoyed your guest post on M2M - which was what had brought me over here in the first place..
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