Your thoughts about alcohol.

[ColeMcdoi]

Okay here's the deal: I'm 15 and I have an "issue". My friends have now started to drink alcohol, and i mean quite alot, they go out almost every weekend and hangs out at some buddy's house and drinks. I don't really care about them wasting their bodies, but what i Do care about is that they are living a lie saying that they are very mature drinking loads of beer and whatnot. They also say that they are very social when they are drunk but I doubt that lying wasted on the floor or barely standing on their own is "social". I'd rather be staying at home rather than getting wasted and pretend to be someone else.

Also, they are always talking about what they did last weekend and well lets say it's easy to predict what they are going to brag about this week.

According to Me they are ignorant dimwits who are lying to themselves, which is pretty much what I hate the most in people.

Oh one last thing, I myself have never gotten wasted or anything like that at all so I would like to hear about who is right in my scenario, Me or my friends?

So, I would like to hear your thoughts about this and maybe some advice about what I should Do about it.

 

[skywalkerlion]

Meh. The addictive personality runs in my family, so I don't think I'll have any recreational drugs of any kind for life. Hell, even medicine addicted some people.

 

[Ham_authority95]

Okay here's the deal: I'm 15 and I have an "issue". My friends have now started to drink alcohol, and i mean quite alot, they go out almost every weekend and hangs out at some buddy's house and drinks. I don't really care about them wasting their bodies, but what i Do care about is that they are living a lie saying that they are very mature drinking loads of beer and whatnot. They also say that they are very social when they are drunk but I doubt that lying wasted on the floor or barely standing on their own is "social". I'd rather be staying at home rather than getting wasted and pretend to be someone else.

Don't hang out with these people any more. You clearly don't like them, and they don't sound like they care about you, so don't hang around them. Period.

 

[Radeonx]

I always have a drink at social gatherings and other events. I'm over the age though, so it isn't a big deal.
For me personally, I've been drinking with friends for years, but we've always made sure we weren't driving anywhere.
In terms of who's right/wrong, I wouldn't really say either of you is. Sure, it is illegal to drink underage, but it isn't a horrible thing to do. It can be dangerous if you have no sense of control/do dangerous things while drunk, but I personally see no problem with drinking a little.
If they are really "lying wasted on the floor" as you say, then I wouldn't do it, but for some reason I severely doubt a term such as that is 100% true.

 

[Berserker119]

I don't really care for it, but other people do, and it's fun to make fun of them when they get really drunk.

 

[smearyllama]

Meh. The addictive personality runs in my family, so I don't think I'll have any recreational drugs of any kind for life. Hell, even medicine addicted some people.

OhmiGod.
Your avatar.
It's RAAAAY!!!!

OT: If they're gonna waste their lives, so be it. Avoid them, and make some new friends.

 

[ICanBreakTheseCuffs]

you're right obviously

leave them

 

[DanielBrown]

If you don't want to go out and drink then don't.
Out of my own experience;
I started drinking when I was 14. Me and some friends stole beer that we drank in stairways or in parks. We did this pretty damn often... I reckon I was drunk at least 4 times a week for a long period of time. Eventually we got busted for stealing beer, but we were minors so there were no consequences apart from getting yelled at by our parents.
I had a really fun time and I met tons and tons of new friends, though looking back I wish I would have taken a bit more responsibility in my life. My school grades suffered greatly due to my new friend circle.

These days I don't drink anymore. Not because I don't want to, but because I don't hang out with any people that drink a lot. It got less exciting after I hit 18(legal drinking age in Sweden) as well.

 

[TheTim]

i love alchohol and i love partying, and you cant have one without the other.

 

[MetaMop]

Used to drink alot myself. Then saw how incredibly stupid it is in the end.
It all starts off fine and friendly but then you're arguing with your best friends about nothing and puking your guts up all over a public street. It's a very stupid habit.

 

[Hader]

Drinking at that age and pretending to know all about it is a recipe for disaster. You can still party and drink and be smart about it. Doesn't sound like your friends are doing that though.

 

[Pariah87]

If you don't want to drink, don't drink. No reason to look down on those that do and enjoy it though. I drink and I love it.

Thing is, everyone starts off the way your friends currently are. It's still on the wrong side of legal, it's something that for years has been the realm of adults and in their haste to be seen as adults, they try and do the same sort of stuff.

Their bodies however, are not prepared. I've always been able to hold my drink, but over time your body gets used to it more so the effects aren't as bad. I can remember some truely embarassing times in pubs and clubs when I was on the other side of legal, yet I can drink the same amount now and not end up passing out on a couch or falling into the side of a van -.-.

Also, once the thrill of doing something taboo has worn off, they won't feel the need to get plastered as much, maybe on special occassions, but the rest of the time drinking will turn into a purely social thing, instead of a race or game to see who can drink the most in the shortest space of time.

To sort of prove my point about the effects dying down after a while, a friend of mine at university is a student warden. Now down here, we were all drinking reguarly for a good couple of years before he went up there, so his tolerance level was already at a good point. Freshers week comes around and I go up to see him, check out the new female arrivals and all that. Alot of the newbies had never really drunk alcohol before and were thrown straight into a world of heavy boozing, and they just couldn't cope. A few were even taken to hospital after relatively small amounts of alcohol, like 5 or 6 pints, simply because their tolerance level was the same as ours was when were 15-16.

TL;DR. You're both in the right. Drinking can be incredibly fun and, in Britain at least, a part of stepping into the adult world. If you're friends want to drink, good for them, you may not see it as a good time but I bet they do. If you don't want to drink, good for you, everyone likes different things. Neither side should look down on the other.

 

[Rednog]

At 15 it's pretty stupid to drink.
Age appropriate I'm lukewarm on the whole notion of alcohol.
There are times where I've had a decent buzz and just have had fun. But for some reason I'm a person who can take a lot of alcohol before getting buzzed. And my range between buzzed and absolutely wasted is very small. So I'm fairly hesitant about doing it and the feeling after you hit absolutely wasted is pretty terrible. I had my first episode of blacking out and vomiting after drinking too much a month ago and it was at least in my top 10 of worst moments ever.
So in summary, if you can handle your high than props to you and if you want to, then just do it. But I don't think a majority of people can handle their highs.

 

[Shirokurou]

Hey, I'm from Russia and as you know alcohol is pretty popular here. Yet my friends never insisted on me drinking or said I was spoiling their fun. Later on they started quitting themselves, cause they bought cars and didn't want to have a drunken accident.

So keep saying "no thanks" and that way you seem more mature than them.

 

[Marter]

I dislike everything that it does to people.

I am bitter regarding it, and yes, I realize I'm not giving it a fair shot. I don't care.

 

[Thaliur]

Just don't worry, I started drinking alcohol at age 19, mostly because everything I tried up to that point tasted just disgusting to me.
The first alcoholic drink I liked, and still my favourite, is mead, by the way.

I still rarely drink a lot, and stay away from drinks where I can't estimate the effects. Actual Whisky (the Scottish or Irish Whisky. Not those floorcleaners from the US) is fine, too, because the taste is very pleasant (at least that of most brands I tried so far), and I usually don't drink more than two glasses in an evening anyway, so that's OK.


If you're thinking about starting, these would be my recommendations. Now the warnings:
Try to avoid beer. Most beer brands, in my experience, will cause sickness before any noticeable amount of alcohol reached the brain.
Definitely avoid Wodka. Most disinfectants taste a lot better. Also, don't trust people who tell you you won't taste Wodka in Jelly shots or mixed drinks. You likely will, and if you do, it's horrible.
The last one is probably more a matter of taste than the rest, since I know a lot of people who would disagree, but I found Tequila and anything related to it (except for lemons and salt, those are great) to be quite disgusting. Even that Tequila beer stuff (Desperados, I think).


Of course, the most important thing, as already mentioned by lots of people here, is that you should never feel forced to start drinking alcohol. If you don't want to get drunk, don't get drunk. If people need to get drunk to have fun, they should really think about their life and personality.

 

[Zantos]

It's just a phase they're going through, myself and many of my friends at that age did similar things and learnt some very difficult lessons on moderation.

Alcohol can be quite enjoyable on social occasions when drank responsibly and providing there isn't a sense of pressure and is consumed in moderation (mostly not exceeding your personal limits) it can be quite merry.

It isn't necessary to drink, but it also isn't a bad thing. I'm sure if they're anything like sensible people they'll eventually realise that getting wasted is not mature, sensible or funny, but sensible drinking can become an enjoyable part of social adult life. If you feel uncomfortable with what they're doing then maybe try to avoid them after their weekend bender, and definately do not let them pressure you into starting to drink in excess. But don't give up on them, if they've any common sense they'll realise getting floored weekly is a stupid thing and you should always stick to your limits.

Hope this helps

 

[manythings]

If you're thinking it's clear you're NOT drinking! HOOO!

ON a serious note, I don't think much of alcohol. In moderation at a party or whatever it's fine but drinking till you are destroyed is for retards (Sometimes literally, beer does speed brain cell death).

On the topic of socialising and alcohol? I view them as things that mesh quite well so long as neither of you are trashed. If one is trashed the other won't think much of you, if both of you are trashed you'll think you had a good time (you didn't).

As personal advice don't believe people when they say go to night clubs to socialise, the night club experience is designed to make you not want to talk to people (low lighting because people are usually uncomfortable talking to anyone they can't see, pounding music to make you shout yourself hoarse (then drink to soothe your throat) or just give up on trying to talk). If you aren't talking you're drinking.

Hey, I'm from Russia and as you know alcohol is pretty popular here. Yet my friends never insisted on me drinking or said I was spoiling their fun. Later on they started quitting themselves, cause they bought cars and didn't want to have a drunken accident.

In Non-Soviet Russia, you don't drink alcohol. (I couldn't resist)

So keep saying "no thanks" and that way you seem more mature than them.

Unless he is in Ireland, Scotland, England or the US since not drinking yourself to brain damage means you are gay.

 

[jdogtwodolla]

Mature people would follow the "just because you can doesn't mean you should" saying.