Lots of good and interesting points here... thanks for sharing all!
Maybe my 'mind will change'. Maybe I'm "taking inventory" and just don't see it.
Maybe I'm just having trouble expressing what I'm trying to express.
I went to a dinner party last night. Everyone there was drinking. None of them drank to excess. But ALL of them had at least 2 drinks. A few had 5. Next door was a bar. A dozen of my high school classmates were there on the patio. They'd included me on a facebook invitation earlier in the day. They were drinking there from 4pm and had plans to go to several other bars - and drink all night.
When I see these things, what I used to see was fun. Now what I'm seeing is a curiosity and a gratitude. Curiosity that so many people do in fact spend so much time drinking. Gratitude that I'm not.