Can you handle your drink?
Discussion
Many years ago I used to work in pubs, where I learned that alcohol really doesn't agree with some people, and they just can't handle it at all.
These people can be perfectly nice when sober, but turn into complete a
holes when drunk. They become argumentative, belligerent, nasty, confrontational, even violent. Then they sober up and they are fine again.
All types of people can turn into monsters when drunk, not just the stereotype of young working class men. Women, educated professionals, older people, I had problems with all of them. I even once had a glass ashtray thrown at me by an elderly disabled guy in a wheelchair. Fortunately for him, he missed.
I'm lucky. I can, and do enjoy a drink without causing problems to other people.
These people can be perfectly nice when sober, but turn into complete a
holes when drunk. They become argumentative, belligerent, nasty, confrontational, even violent. Then they sober up and they are fine again.All types of people can turn into monsters when drunk, not just the stereotype of young working class men. Women, educated professionals, older people, I had problems with all of them. I even once had a glass ashtray thrown at me by an elderly disabled guy in a wheelchair. Fortunately for him, he missed.
I'm lucky. I can, and do enjoy a drink without causing problems to other people.
I'm currently working security at a University halls of residence. (I'm onsite now, having just watched a load go out to town)
They're a nightmare! None are capable of having a few and getting slightly pissed, it's always bordering on comatose! Still, at least cleaning up vomit is not on my duties....
They're a nightmare! None are capable of having a few and getting slightly pissed, it's always bordering on comatose! Still, at least cleaning up vomit is not on my duties....
This thread isn't really going anywhere, but it's reminded me of something that happened when I was a teenager.
My best mate's dad was a working-class man who still rode a bike to the factory (never owned a car) and stayed true to the tradition of having a pint or two whilst the missus at home got his dinner cooked (although he would have called it his tea). He was a hard-working man, and could drink with the best of them. I knew for a fact that he could outdrink anybody I knew, but word got back to one of our friends at school who fancied himself as a big-time downer of ale.
So they had a showdown. In the space of 2 hours one Sunday lunchtime my mate's dad sank 24 pints. The schoolchum had given up long ago - I can't remember how many he had, but no more than a dozen or so. Now here's the oddest thing - I never saw the "dad" drunk. He could really hold his alcohol, and I swear he rode his bike home from that pub after 24 pints. You could still hold an intelligible conversation with him too.
I never saw anyone else who could do that. Metabolism or summat?
My best mate's dad was a working-class man who still rode a bike to the factory (never owned a car) and stayed true to the tradition of having a pint or two whilst the missus at home got his dinner cooked (although he would have called it his tea). He was a hard-working man, and could drink with the best of them. I knew for a fact that he could outdrink anybody I knew, but word got back to one of our friends at school who fancied himself as a big-time downer of ale.
So they had a showdown. In the space of 2 hours one Sunday lunchtime my mate's dad sank 24 pints. The schoolchum had given up long ago - I can't remember how many he had, but no more than a dozen or so. Now here's the oddest thing - I never saw the "dad" drunk. He could really hold his alcohol, and I swear he rode his bike home from that pub after 24 pints. You could still hold an intelligible conversation with him too.
I never saw anyone else who could do that. Metabolism or summat?
I was watching "Gogglebox" the other day, and those 2 gay guys were talking about the news item concerning that pill which can stop you wanting to drink, and they seemed to consider that getting bladdered was why people went out for a drink. To me, this sums up the modern attitude towards alcohol.
I'm an old codger - I was first drinking in the mid-60s, and my "young man out with his mates" phase went on until the mid-70s. It was a matter of pride not to get pissed. If you saw a guy who was almost comatose you laughed and jeered - it meant he couldn't hold his drink, and in our eyes, he "wasn't a real man". How the world has changed.
It seems now that the whole point of drinking is to get to the point of A & E .Hence the fashion for drinking before you even leave home, and the downing of shots to get drunk quicker. Seems really weird to people of my generation. How the hell can you think you're "enjoying yourself"? You don't know where you are or the time of day. We used to go out on a Saturday night, have a few pints (no more than 4 or 5, supped slowly) and a game of darts, or then go on to a club where we might have a whisky chaser with the pint, but never , ever, did we get to the point of vomiting or passing out.
When, and why, did this all start?
I'm an old codger - I was first drinking in the mid-60s, and my "young man out with his mates" phase went on until the mid-70s. It was a matter of pride not to get pissed. If you saw a guy who was almost comatose you laughed and jeered - it meant he couldn't hold his drink, and in our eyes, he "wasn't a real man". How the world has changed.
It seems now that the whole point of drinking is to get to the point of A & E .Hence the fashion for drinking before you even leave home, and the downing of shots to get drunk quicker. Seems really weird to people of my generation. How the hell can you think you're "enjoying yourself"? You don't know where you are or the time of day. We used to go out on a Saturday night, have a few pints (no more than 4 or 5, supped slowly) and a game of darts, or then go on to a club where we might have a whisky chaser with the pint, but never , ever, did we get to the point of vomiting or passing out.
When, and why, did this all start?
Possibly the drink to get drunk culture started when alcopop type drink arrived on the scene. Also when it became acceptable for guys to drink something other than a pint.
I remember my first pint. It didn't taste that great, which meant it wasn't knocked back in a few gulps, but that's what you drunk when you went to the pub. So there was probably a slower drinking pace at first and by the time I was used to the taste of beer/lager I could handle the alcohol better. Not saying I didn't get drunk, but certainly not comatose.
Today however there are a lot of alcoholic products on the market that that taste like a soft drink. So it can be drunk quickly without having to acquire a new taste or get used to alcohol, which then means you drink more of it and get smashed quicker. That slowly becomes the night out culture and accepted as normal.
To answer the original question, as someone in my early 40s I am probably more careful now of what I drink when out than when I was in my 20s. I still drink pints but not all the time and tend to favour mostly bottled lager these days. If I stick to that and avoid spirits I am usually okay and tend to know where I am! I like going to the pub with mates but hate getting really drunk. So I handle my drink by controlling what I drink rather than just having a skinful and hoping for the best.
I remember my first pint. It didn't taste that great, which meant it wasn't knocked back in a few gulps, but that's what you drunk when you went to the pub. So there was probably a slower drinking pace at first and by the time I was used to the taste of beer/lager I could handle the alcohol better. Not saying I didn't get drunk, but certainly not comatose.
Today however there are a lot of alcoholic products on the market that that taste like a soft drink. So it can be drunk quickly without having to acquire a new taste or get used to alcohol, which then means you drink more of it and get smashed quicker. That slowly becomes the night out culture and accepted as normal.
To answer the original question, as someone in my early 40s I am probably more careful now of what I drink when out than when I was in my 20s. I still drink pints but not all the time and tend to favour mostly bottled lager these days. If I stick to that and avoid spirits I am usually okay and tend to know where I am! I like going to the pub with mates but hate getting really drunk. So I handle my drink by controlling what I drink rather than just having a skinful and hoping for the best.
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