Poll: Do you really enjoy drinking? +Australian Stupidity

[Headdrivehardscrew]

The reason RTD's are taxed 'badly' mostly stem from the fact that other people consider them to be bad for you, especially younger people. So - if young people who don't know better didn't buy them, they'd supposedly be cheaper. I can understand where people arguing like this come from, I still suspect any government or political entity of just generally liking the idea of taxing things - so everybody, even the most responsible people, end up somehow paying for the eejits ending up in the ER with alcohol induced near-death.

Greece taxed cigars in a very mad, mad way. What that did is it reduced tobacco shops to the sort of establishments only Ferrari drivers and fancy yacht owners would step into. And it made smugglers and conteirfeiters and other unsavoury folks mad rich. Not too good on the taxes, that. And way unhealthy, especially with cheapfag cheap fags containing virtually anything nasty from rat poison to mummified mouse remains.

Finland put mad taxes on alcohol, and just about all Finnish citizens from the lower castes are pretty much constantly drunk when abroad, because alcohol - to them - is mad cheap everywhere they go.

So, no matter where you are - I think taxing stuff to 'educate' people is a darn cheap excuse and hardly valid.

But I also think alcohol should be consumed moderately and, ahem, enjoyed. I drink beer and wine, with no judgmental preference, as both offer very exciting health benefits if consumed in moderation. I also like whiskeys, where the cheap ones go well with Coke or Pepsi, and I really like the smoky ones amongst the more costly ones. Whodhavethunk the Japanese make exceptional Whisky? Nothing against a simple mixer like Gin and Tonic, but the premixed stuff they sell in cans is rather nasty, awful and foul. Gin also goes well with juices - anything from orange to tomato, really. Add fresh fruits and fresh veggies - and eat them, and all of a sudden alcohol goes from well stupid pastime to a true expression of enjoying yourself.

Buying straight and mixing yourself is the way to go, really.

Now, if only we could actually fix the attitude from 'getting shitfaced yay!' to 'enjoying responsibly'...

I just had one Ruddy Mary, used half a bottle of OK red wine and a fair amount of Cognac to cook dinner: http://scrapbook.channel4.com/bookmarkBar/4fa54feae4b00d9f77e1073f

Without alcohol, getting these fruity and excellent flavours would either be plain impossible or involve months of preparation. Plus, open brandy flames in the kitchen are awesome.

Ah, I really enjoyed those:
http://www.atomicbooks.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/d/e/deadfaceisles2.jpg

 

[theriddlen]

I generally drink when I'm at some kind of a party, usually with my my long time mates. I mostly use it for entertainment purposes, and limit myself to a single bottle of vodka at a time , that's pretty much my "safety" limit - I go over that, the floor just goes awfully wobbly, I drink equal mount or bit less and I can still dance.
I'm from Poland btw.

 

[Hammer's Girl]

I can't drink for medical reasons. For some reason since I developed a chronic condition my body has decided that I have roughly the alcohol tolerance of a Muslim toddler. I used to drink, never a huge amount, but suddenly noticed that I couldn't really drink a glass of wine without becoming drunk to the point that it wasn't fun. My friend still warmly remembers the time when I drank a pint in the student bar at my Uni and fell off of the stool.

But in all honesty I never really understood the point of getting utterly wasted on a night out, I drank alcohol that I enjoyed the taste of and generally stopped at slightly tipsy when out with friends. I quite enjoy being the sober one when my friends drink now, their faces the next morning when I tell them what daft things they said are worth being a bit bored. And I'm the only one of our circle with both a driving licence and a car so it works out quite well.

 

[York_Beckett]

I drink often, and I drink alone. I know it's not a good habit, but frankly, it's just kind of relieving. Makes me less angry at the world (mostly because I tend to fall asleep), and it gets problems off my mind. That, or it makes the problem worse. Guess it depends.

Do I have a good time? Well, sometimes. I don't know, honestly.

 

[scorptatious]

I never drank before. And I don't really plan to.

Besides, here in America I won't be able to legally drink for three more months.

 

[SadisticBrownie]

I like drinking. Drinking's fine. Don't like going out though, think it's more because of all the obnoxious cretins you see and the outrageous amount of money you waste on a night out. Drink quite a lot solo though.

 

[Polyg0n]

I hate how drinking has become such a big part of so many people's social life. Personally I find drinking alcohol any more than very small portions to be disgusting and try to avoid all drinking when I can without being an utter mood ruiner.

This is why I don't very often go into parties as most people in them are getting drunk and I have not yet been able to enjoy a full night in a party without people trying to get me to drink as well, which is the ultimate mood ruiner for me. Especially after entering a university it seems that 95% of all get-togethers include drinking and that is making it hard for me to create new social contacts.

 

[Maeta]

I used to rarely drink. Then when I started uni I'd have one of a night if I was going out (though actually I quite often didn't consider it going out and stuck to coke). Then I got a bottle of JDs and got drunk over a lunch break with a friend and still went to a lecture.
Then I started getting depressed and tried to drink it away, so I'd put away maybe 3/4s of a litre of JDs and a few pints minimum over the course of an evening (and woke up in the snow, passed out in the corridor or somehow fine on one occasion). Stopped drinking for a long time after my overdose. Started drinking a bit again (not too much). Then drank to drown my sorrows again one night but that was only about 6 pints.
Get to one of my best mate's parties last November, hadnt drunk in a while, got ratted by drinking a bottle of vodka at his place and a few cocktails at the first bar, then puked on my pool rival. Next time around things went a bit better after 9 pints bought for me on my 22nd. Next time around I had a bit more and tried it on with almost every girl in the bar. Next time round I pulled, then the time after I was sick in a stranger's sink (and I still don't know what happened with her).

I always used to despise binge-drinking and prefered a sort of refined pint whilst playing pool or darts or having a grown-up chat with friends. Now, it seems, I've developed a liking for being a drunk loser: I get wrecked and flirt with girls who I would never have the guts to talk to, and I kinda like that in a bad way. Thing is, when I sober up (only been hungover properly once, though I did show up to an assessment drunk and got a first on it, and then to work drunk and set a personal best on my upload times (standard for a girl doing the same work was 5 minutes or so, I hit 13 seconds (no shitting))) I tend to regret my actions. A sober me is usually rather shy, and the girls I tend to actually LIKE are not the kind of girls who'd be up for stuff like this. I've kinda gone for the sorta 'poster girls' when drunk, but they have no substance. I guess it's utterly dependent upon who else is up for boozing that night: there's a shortlist of good friends that will guarantee me being a wreck these days and the transformation in me was pretty rapid.

Wow: where the fuck did this all come from?