I am finally in a place now where alcohol is not "evil."
Last night a friend of mine and I went out for dinner. Driving on the way home, I took a different route, and ended up on the route to XABF's favorite weekend liquor store. I guess I drove him there too often, back when we were together, because I went there on autopilot instead of my apartment. (How sick is that??? But that's a different story. :p)
I hadn't been across this bridge even since I broke up with XABF. We decided to make an adventure of it... And actually went to the liquor store, which is one of the largest in the area (I can only think of one larger one - I know where they all are courtesy of XABF).
My friend picked up a pair of bottles for herself, and I got some white wine for cooking, some amaretto to test a suggestion from a guy at work for altering my pound cake recipe, and a bottle of California chardonnay called "Middle Sister" as part of a Christmas present for my middle sister (it was inexpensive, the label was cute, and she will find it hilarious).
I had a good time, wandering around the liquor store, and joking with my friend about how she kept reacting upon discovery of the prices of multiple liquors that she liked while trying to decide which two she would get. (I got in trouble for my "Should we get a cart?" comment.) The two of us had a great night, and that was the first time I ever felt truly comfortable around a large quantity of alcohol like that.
I believe that, just like an alcoholic has to come to terms eventually with being around people drinking (since it's such a large part of our culture), we also need to find our own comfort level with it. In my case, I never enjoyed drinking it, so me not participating in the actual consumption is normal for me. The difference now, though, is that I can feel comfortable cooking with it, and in some ways I enjoy doing so because to me that signifies taking back the power alcohol had over me so many years. Now I can add it to a recipe, and thoroughly enjoy it, because I am comfortable doing so.
I did go through a period feeling that alcohol should be banned, because it can be so destructive... But so many other things can be destructive as well. Heck, drinking too much water can kill a person. Eating too many carrots will turn your skin yellow. Getting too much sun can cause skin cancer.
So it's not the alcohol's fault. It's the drinker's lack of moderation, and if they're not capable of stopping, then they shouldn't start.
This is the same reason I do not purchase potato chips, because I will finish the entire bag without realizing. Certainly, completing a bag of potato chips is healthier than being an alcoholic, but that doesn't make it healthy. I know I have the problem, so I do what I can to make sure it's not an active problem.