Drinking

There was a time when the first question at a party was “What are you drinking?”

A leftover from prohibition it was a cultural belief that everyone must drink alcohol. Every house had a bar and a stash of liquors to entertain guest. Clubs had bartenders to prepare the concoctions while the local pub just delivered from the tap.

Colleges had keg parties and getting wasted was a trial of passage. There was no excuse to bypass an invitation to get woozy without becoming unpopular.

Before the ‘blue laws’ were reversed, a pre-purchased bottle of spirits had to be brought into an established covered in a brown bag to be enjoyed with the evening. The ABC laws also closed down the sales of alcohol on Sunday. They did not control the consumption.

Alcohol is a depressant, which in low doses causes euphoria, reduces anxiety, and improves sociability. In higher doses, it causes drunkenness, stupor, unconsciousness, or death. Long-term use can lead to alcohol abuse, cancer, physical dependence, and alcoholism.

Alcohol is one of the most widely used recreational drugs in the world, with about 33% of people being current drinkers. As of 2016, women on average drink 0.7 drinks and males 1.7 drinks a day.

In 2015, among Americans, 86% of adults had consumed alcohol at some point, 70% had drunk it in the last year, and 56% in the last month. Alcoholic drinks are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—and typically their alcohol content is between 3% and 50%.

Discovery of late Stone Age jugs suggest that intentionally fermented drinks existed at least as early as the Neolithic period (cir. 10,000 BC). Many animals also consume alcohol when given the opportunity and are affected in much the same way as humans, although humans are the only species known to produce alcoholic drinks intentionally.

Drinking was one of the Middle America suburban rituals the rebellious youth wanted to revolt against in the 60’s. Whatever your parents did was old fashioned and must be changed.

As we grew our hair long and wore yesterday’s clothing sitting around a telephone wire cable reel wooden table lighting a candle (always have a candle) and dividing up dry weed into paper cylinders to forget our woes (just like our folks).

The drug of choice became a technical conversation just as our father’s had compared Jack Daniels or Johnny Walker. Some of it was sales talk and some was proudest of substance abuse survival.

There was still plenty of Rolling Rock and PBR to go around but finances restrained the bar. Wine tasting was restricted to Boones Farm and Ripple.

Today our species want to get ‘loopy’. You see red solo cups at every NASCAR race, rock concert, and business conferences, holiday even and church social.

I am not a teetotaler. I’ve had my share of ‘fall down and can’t remember how I got here’ moments. I do know some history of wine but could not make you a Manhattan if my life depended on it. My current bowery consists of 12- silver cans and no more. The occasional visit to the corner brewery is a taste test and nothing more.

Whatever the laws and culture conflict, we will drink. We will drink in public. We will drive drunk. We will excuse our actions as addiction.

There will be more who vow prohibition and those who will preach abstinence but the booze continues to flow. Moonshine runners or Clydesdales carts will stock our grocery shelves with temptations for entertaining guest.

“What are you drinking?”

Last call