Thoughts on the responsible use of alcohol.
I write this because I have been a functional alcoholic for about a year now. I hope that my experience can reach other people and can perhaps make them aware of some of the issues of drinking alcohol. My only experience with addictive drugs is alcohol; I have never taken any illegal drugs. I vape some but it is legal. One time a man stood behind me, watching me vape, and told me it was bad for my health. This is why I write this; he was smoking a cigarette and telling me vaping was bad for my health. This is the kind of stupidity we are dealing with today. Anti-alcohol is popular right now. It is the in thing. What I want to do is give you the pros and cons of using alcohol and then let you choose whether you want to use it or not. I will expound some on the cons so you can really see it but I will also list the pros.
The benefits of using alcohol 1) It tastes good. 2) It helps you to relax and forget your problems 3) It is good for socializing; it loosens you up, makes you less shy 4) It shortens your lifespan; you will never be old enough to die of alzheimers or some other terrible disease that old people get.
The cons 1) It makes you drunk, shutting off parts of the brain that offer common sense, eliminates your inhibitions, so under the influence you might do something you regret the next day. 2) If you decide to drink a few and then drive somewhere it can ruin your life. 3) Depending on your personality it can make a “mean drunk”. You might come home from the bar and beat your wife or children. This is not good. 4) It shortens your lifespan, meaning you may not have time to spend with your grandchildren or grow old with your wife. 5) It may interfere with any medications you are on 6) If people know you drink alcohol they will tell you it is bad for you without knowing in any way why you drink or what it does for you. It is popular right now to be opposed to the usage of alcohol.
You have to keep in mind that the same people who are opposed to alcohol will use their phone, light and smoke a cigarette, eat a sandwich, and mess with the stereo while driving. I was told the other day that a blood alcohol level of .04% causes impaired driving. So far as I know no studies have been done between the relative impairment of driving with a blood alcohol level of .04% or using your phone while driving. I would guess the driver who uses their phone while driving is further impaired than the .04% driver. This is part of the reason I bring this to your attention; since MADD became known there is extreme prejudice against using alcohol and driving but those same people turn a blind eye to all the distractions they allow in their car.
I am going to give you two examples of how alcohol can harm your life.
Another example is a close friend of mine. His daughter was killed in a car accident, she was by herself and hit a tree so noone really knows what happened. He turned partially to alcohol to assuage his feelings. He ended up divorcing his wife. After a while he met a woman and they moved in together. This lasted 6 years. He really loved her. She was quite a bit younger than him and ended up leaving him after 6 years for someone her own age. This is when he really turned to alcohol. He became a full blown alcoholic, drinking a half gallon of vodka every two days. He still had a good job and was doing well at his work, was making the payments on a beautiful house, etc. One day he had to take somebody to the hospital and came home about 1 o’clock in the morning. He opted to have his usual drinks. The next morning he went to work and someone smelled alcohol on his breath. They told the supervisor. The supervisor came over and they took him down to get his blood alcohol level checked. It was above the legal limits. At that point the only thing he lost was his job, a $20 per hour job. Next he had no way to pay his house payment. It took the bank about 2 years but they took his house. He had nowhere to store his stuff so they were left with everything he had. It has taken him years to rebuild a comfortable life, from being homeless to being back on his feet again and paying his rent, having a job he likes and friends that support him. All of this was because he took a few drinks before going in to work. This is what alcohol can do to you if you let it.
I have given you the pros and cons. I have given you several examples of what alcohol can do to you. Now it is up to you to decide whether you want to drink or not, how much to drink, and when to drink it.
I write this because I have been a functional alcoholic for about a year now. I hope that my experience can reach other people and can perhaps make them aware of some of the issues of drinking alcohol. My only experience with addictive drugs is alcohol; I have never taken any illegal drugs. I vape some but it is legal. One time a man stood behind me, watching me vape, and told me it was bad for my health. This is why I write this; he was smoking a cigarette and telling me vaping was bad for my health. This is the kind of stupidity we are dealing with today. Anti-alcohol is popular right now. It is the in thing. What I want to do is give you the pros and cons of using alcohol and then let you choose whether you want to use it or not. I will expound some on the cons so you can really see it but I will also list the pros.
The benefits of using alcohol 1) It tastes good. 2) It helps you to relax and forget your problems 3) It is good for socializing; it loosens you up, makes you less shy 4) It shortens your lifespan; you will never be old enough to die of alzheimers or some other terrible disease that old people get.
The cons 1) It makes you drunk, shutting off parts of the brain that offer common sense, eliminates your inhibitions, so under the influence you might do something you regret the next day. 2) If you decide to drink a few and then drive somewhere it can ruin your life. 3) Depending on your personality it can make a “mean drunk”. You might come home from the bar and beat your wife or children. This is not good. 4) It shortens your lifespan, meaning you may not have time to spend with your grandchildren or grow old with your wife. 5) It may interfere with any medications you are on 6) If people know you drink alcohol they will tell you it is bad for you without knowing in any way why you drink or what it does for you. It is popular right now to be opposed to the usage of alcohol.
You have to keep in mind that the same people who are opposed to alcohol will use their phone, light and smoke a cigarette, eat a sandwich, and mess with the stereo while driving. I was told the other day that a blood alcohol level of .04% causes impaired driving. So far as I know no studies have been done between the relative impairment of driving with a blood alcohol level of .04% or using your phone while driving. I would guess the driver who uses their phone while driving is further impaired than the .04% driver. This is part of the reason I bring this to your attention; since MADD became known there is extreme prejudice against using alcohol and driving but those same people turn a blind eye to all the distractions they allow in their car.
I am going to give you two examples of how alcohol can harm your life.
- I work across the table from a woman who has a son. Sunday evening he opted to drink two beers with a friend and then go with his girlfriend to a bar to order a pitcher of beer and share it between them. I would guess she drank one glass or maybe two out of the pitcher and he drank the rest. At that point I would have opted not to drive, I would have called an uber or had my parents pick me up or what ever. He chose to drive home. On the way home he got pulled over by the police for having a loud muffler. THe officer smelled alcohol on his breath. He got him out of the truck and performed all the field sobriety checks. The son passed every one of them. Next he had a breathalyzer test. THe first blow showed him under the limit. They had him blow 3 or 4 times more and none of them showed him over the .08% limit. Next they hauled him down to the station in handcuffs. When he blew into the test there it showed him over the limit. He was arrested and thrown in jail and this will cost him thousands of dollars. RIght now it is extremely popular to arrest people that drink alcohol. The county makes hundreds of thousands of dollars off of “drunk” drivers and if the policeman suspects you had a beer before driving he will not rest until you are arrested and in prison. This is something to keep in mind if you decide to drive somewhere after having a beer.
Another example is a close friend of mine. His daughter was killed in a car accident, she was by herself and hit a tree so noone really knows what happened. He turned partially to alcohol to assuage his feelings. He ended up divorcing his wife. After a while he met a woman and they moved in together. This lasted 6 years. He really loved her. She was quite a bit younger than him and ended up leaving him after 6 years for someone her own age. This is when he really turned to alcohol. He became a full blown alcoholic, drinking a half gallon of vodka every two days. He still had a good job and was doing well at his work, was making the payments on a beautiful house, etc. One day he had to take somebody to the hospital and came home about 1 o’clock in the morning. He opted to have his usual drinks. The next morning he went to work and someone smelled alcohol on his breath. They told the supervisor. The supervisor came over and they took him down to get his blood alcohol level checked. It was above the legal limits. At that point the only thing he lost was his job, a $20 per hour job. Next he had no way to pay his house payment. It took the bank about 2 years but they took his house. He had nowhere to store his stuff so they were left with everything he had. It has taken him years to rebuild a comfortable life, from being homeless to being back on his feet again and paying his rent, having a job he likes and friends that support him. All of this was because he took a few drinks before going in to work. This is what alcohol can do to you if you let it.
I have given you the pros and cons. I have given you several examples of what alcohol can do to you. Now it is up to you to decide whether you want to drink or not, how much to drink, and when to drink it.