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Anyone else fed up with our Alcohol culture

Old 05-22-2016, 06:41 AM
  # 21 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by NoelleR View Post
Like many here on SR, I'm a believer in NOT romanticizing alcohol, but I'm also a firm believer in NOT demonizing it either.....................:



These may be your beliefs/opinions, but they're not facts. Alcohol is not a poison/toxin, no more than water or salt.

(o:
But it is a poisen. Getting drunk is your brain's reaction to the toxin. People usually become unconscious when they drink more than a certain amount. Sometimes (for various reasons), they can drink beyond that and then die of alcohol poisening! Short of that, repeated alcohol use can permanently damage various parts of th body including essential organs. How is that not a poisen?
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Old 05-22-2016, 07:01 AM
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Originally Posted by polaris View Post
It can get a little annoying, but remember we are seeing in through the Alcoholic lens as well. They shouldnt feel guilty for enjoying some drinks, because some of us cant.

When it crosses the line into glorifying hardcore drinking and alcoholic type behavior, then I agree with you.
I agree partly, but if you really start to scrutinize it most people who claim to be social drinkers are really not. I noticed that several people on a recent business trip drank every day and at least 3 to 4 drinks every time. Four drinks is considered binge drinking by the medical community. So yes I t hink it is glorified and very few people drink normally. I used to think it was normal to center everything around drinking and look where it got me.
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Old 05-22-2016, 07:04 AM
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Originally Posted by frankster View Post
Fact is alcohol is a poison. It is not a food or even a drug in that sense. It should have the poison label on it when you buy it. No one would consider drinking a little ammonia at a party. What's the difference? I'm sick of the cultural propaganda machine as well. Selling the illusion that any amount of drinking is normal or even healthy. I don't know how many times I've seen articles claiming that a glass of wine a day is good for you. What horse****. It's a poison, it's a toxin. Let's call it what it is. I'm not telling anyone what to do, but stating the truth on a matter is surly preferable to the lie. Not one of us would think that sniffing gas is normal. Why? Because it's a poison. I'm taking the hard line here. I have to. I'm not judging social drinkers or going to brow beat anyone, but if they ask i'll tell them how I see it.
That **** is nasty.
I feel much better. I'm glad I got that off my chest. I missed my AA meeting today cause I'm in pain and can't move to well right now. Thanks for letting me share.
I agree wholeheartedly, our soceity has become numb to alcohol, now with the craft beer invasion, btw I used to be a beer connoisseur, we have a whole generation of people who think it's normal to drink 3 to 4 beers every day. I got new for you people, It's not normal . It's binge drinking.
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Old 05-22-2016, 07:06 AM
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Originally Posted by Frickaflip233 View Post
Hi lady blue
But don't they also have all you can eat breadsticks? Red robin, all you can eat French fries? Our horrid food culture and how it is relentlessly advertised and targeted at kids? That bothers me a whole lot more than alcohol and frankly has a far bigger impact on individual health and cost to society than booze.

Yeah I get the alcohol 'thing' but most people don't even notice it. I of course can't miss it. But that's because I'm an addict. Those that are overweight/obese probably are very triggered driving down a major road that has a horrid food choice, drive through, every third building.

Ha! This wasn't really in response to your post....just a thought. I remember being in a small town in Austria for meetings with Philips. We got there around 2pm and were starved. There literally was not 1 restaurant or cafe that was open. No 24/7 fast food options. Blew us away. Anyway, rambling here
I believe alcohol has a whole lot more cost to society than obesity. I don't condone either but being fat is not a danger on the road. Driving drunk is.
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Old 05-22-2016, 07:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Mountainmanbob View Post
Maybe it's the places in which we hang around ?

Many drink in a non addictive way.
Does that stand out to only us and mainly bother us in recovery ?

The longer that we are sober the less we notice
or even think about ourselves or others drinking alcohol.

True, addictions to drugs and alcohol has been going on since the beginning of time. Many were blowing it even in the early Bible days.

The main thing today is that I don't drink.
Wouldn't matter if everyone else was drinking, I still would not.

MB
No I don't agree, alcohol is now everywhere, it's not isolated by any means. You can't avoid the stuff if you try. It's a fact of life yes, doesn't mean it's healthy
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Old 05-22-2016, 10:52 AM
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Originally Posted by tnman1967 View Post
No I don't agree, alcohol is now everywhere, it's not isolated by any means. You can't avoid the stuff if you try. It's a fact of life yes, doesn't mean it's healthy
I'm going to have to agree with you. Outside of going to strictly diners, you're not going to avoid alcohol. It's literally everywhere. I think the only thing you can do is to surround yourself with people who are not hardcore drinkers. I, for one, refuse to let alcohol dictate where I will or will not go.
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Old 05-22-2016, 11:03 AM
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I don't even notice it at this point--at first, I really avoided drinking places and people, but now, it doesn't even register what they drink or don't.

However, I do find people getting drunk and drunk talk boring and disturbing, so I leave if that starts happening
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Old 05-22-2016, 11:19 AM
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How about France and Italy? Friends that visit say it's at every meal and common to see people with a loaf of French bread and bottle of wine. But people who don't abuse it see it as the norm and don't give it a second thought.
There's plenty to do without alcohol, we just don't see it when we aren't sober. I saw what I related to and what I was.
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Old 05-22-2016, 11:21 AM
  # 29 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by tnman1967 View Post
No I don't agree, alcohol is now everywhere, it's not isolated by any means. You can't avoid the stuff if you try.
I've been able to avoid it pretty successfully for about 3 and a half years now. And I can honestly say that my days are filled with activities, tasks and events that have zero alcohol involved. And they aren't thighs I do by myself...they involve other families, groups of people, friend, etc.

The thing is that "culture" and "society" is only what you make of it. There are a lot of things that are advertised that are not good for you. But they are only not good for you if you buy them and consume them.

I used to think that alcohol was "everywhere" too...but then I realized my addiction was just using that as an excuse to keep me drinking. We all have the choice to live our lives however we want to.

Last edited by ScottFromWI; 05-22-2016 at 11:41 AM.
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Old 05-22-2016, 04:04 PM
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Originally Posted by tnman1967 View Post
No I don't agree, alcohol is now everywhere, it's not isolated by any means. You can't avoid the stuff if you try. It's a fact of life yes, doesn't mean it's healthy
After being sober for a while it never seemed to bother me when others drink a little. I spend a lot of time with my best friend. He drinks occasionally but, never around me. Real friends if they know we are alcoholic will not wish to drink around us.

Of course my friend remembers well my drinking days.


MB
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Old 05-22-2016, 04:06 PM
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Early on it irritated me because drinking was on my mind a lot.
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Old 05-22-2016, 04:45 PM
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As booze has become less and less important in my life in sobriety, I notice the culture of drinking less.

For example I avoided certain friends and situations when I stopped, the gatherings that were less about friendship and more about getting plastered.

I've become more discerning about the company I keep! I can do without the drinking buddies and spend my time with people I like.
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Old 05-22-2016, 05:14 PM
  # 33 (permalink)  
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This is one of those things you can't control.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.


That's one of the few prayers that stuck with my over the years. There's a whole lot of good advice in there if you follow.
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Old 05-22-2016, 05:50 PM
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Being really involved in my local recovery community, what society/culture does doesn't really bother me. I don't notice it, I'm not "in" it anymore. Also I don't have a TV. I turned off my Facebook also right after I got sober. I read, work my program and hang out with sober people or other people I consider safe. Changing my environment has really helped me...I don't have to feel pressured, different or left out.
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Old 05-22-2016, 05:58 PM
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Originally Posted by otter View Post
This is one of those things you can't control.
Yes, agreed. Society/culture is a very big concept to try to fight against...too too big. But I understand the impulse to try, I've been riled up plenty before. But this is less of an issue for me right now.
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Old 05-22-2016, 07:36 PM
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Totally agree with all of the above! Besides myself, I fear for all of my family who don't seem to get it! TOXIC!
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Old 05-22-2016, 10:05 PM
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Originally Posted by JeffreyAK View Post
What I notice the most is trying to get decent service at a nice restaurant when you don't order drinks. Automatically, the bill and therefore the waiter or waitress tips get cut in half, so the tendency is for them to pay zero attention to you and hope you go away.
So true, when the waiter comes to get your drink orders and you ask for tap water or diet Coke, you can kind of feel the disappointment. But their loss is your gain. I can now often order the most expensive thing on the menu and the check will still seem remarkably low.

Did you ever notice how when drinking was involved the normal rules of economics went out the window? When I was a student with no money, I would often spend $100 on a night out drinking that I couldn't afford. But rarely spend $10 to eat out due to the expense. It just shows how your rational brain turns off once the wonderful drug is coursing through your veins.
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Old 05-22-2016, 10:15 PM
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Yes it's definitely inundated but honestly I have to go out of my way to both see and aquire it. Sometimes it bothers me and sometimes it doesn't at all. It's just there waiting to catch our av.
We have a huge drug and alcohol problem out here. Very noticeable with the beef upped security in liquor stores, banks and whatnot. The society impact is so quickly evident as you travel around our areas. Anyhow. I try to avoid. Nobody makes me drink but me. And the stupidest stuff will trigger me.
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Old 05-22-2016, 11:00 PM
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Yes. It's pretty much a given that most adults equate "getting together" in the evening with drinking alcohol. If I just go by my coworkers when we go to happy hour, they all drink. They all drink very lightly.

I'm just about two years sober and here are my thoughts on the issue.

Most people drink but they drink very little. I see nothing wrong non-alcoholics enjoying a drink or two and from my two years worth of observations, the vast majority of people leave it at one or two. I've been to weddings where I see people stopping after two drinks. I'll never forget once, this was when I was super early in sobriety, I was with a friend at a wedding and she was drinking a beer. As it came time to sit down, she waved down a waiter and said "Would you take this for me?" She left it on the tray and didn't drink the rest of the evening. Again, this wedding was in very early sobriety so I was watching everyone very closely. I did not see anyone get drunk. My friends who I was with drank one or two beers over four hours.

Long story short, the vast majority of people I know drink a few drinks a week, if that. Very few actually keep it in their home. Sure, this is just my observations, but I've noticed that people drink a lot less than I thought they did when I was still drinking.

Do I wish alcoholic was nowhere to be seen? Sure. I'm not going to get into the chaos that alcohol does cause for certain people, which it does.

One thing that really grinds my gears is this new beer culture where people talk about the 4,000 different types of beers like they're a fine delicacy, all unique and brewed in different places. Annooooying.

When there was a part of me that still wanted to drink, I saw alcohol everywhere I looked. I reached a moment, a turning point, an awakening you could call it, where I did not want to drink alcohol anymore. I repeat, I did not want to drink alcohol anymore. At this point I stopped really noticing it at all.

I'm 33 and had 10 years of alcoholic drinking. I often wonder about the people who are around 22 right now and just starting the path that I took with alcohol. I wonder what would get through to them? I even took an alcohol training course once to be a waiter at a restaurant and watched videos of DUI's and heard about all the health problems it caused. I thought it was meant for other people. Definitely not me.

I think their should be MUCH more stringent DUI training in order to get a driver's license.
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Old 05-23-2016, 12:47 AM
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Originally Posted by Fluffer View Post
So true, when the waiter comes to get your drink orders and you ask for tap water or diet Coke, you can kind of feel the disappointment. But their loss is your gain. I can now often order the most expensive thing on the menu and the check will still seem remarkably low.

Did you ever notice how when drinking was involved the normal rules of economics went out the window? When I was a student with no money, I would often spend $100 on a night out drinking that I couldn't afford. But rarely spend $10 to eat out due to the expense. It just shows how your rational brain turns off once the wonderful drug is coursing through your veins.
I planned my finances around spending $300-$400 a month on alcohol. A few times the Internet was turned off. Pretty lame.
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