Alcohol: Why bother?

So alcohol happened, why didn't it go the way of the dinosaurs?

Think about the first time you ever tasted alcohol.... Some people were exposed really early and don't remember the experience of a little sherry in their bottle, or rubbed on their gums when they were teething. Some were allowed a taste of Dad's beer or the Christmas Day champagne at a tender age. Some sneaked sips at the first big wedding or party they were around. Some never even saw it until junior or senior high school. Still others were taught from infancy that it was evil and may not have touched it until college or the army took them away from home. And there are some, who for one reason or another, have never touched the stuff. If you are in the majority, however, you probably encountered it in a variation on one of the above themes.

Maybe you didn't like that first sip of Dad's beer or Aunt Tillie's sherry. Rather than admit it, you decided they must know what was good. So you took a sip every time it was offered. "As you're fighting your way to the top, it helps to have a taste of what's up there."

Perhaps you were around for the preparations for a big do at your house. Ice, soda, and funny-colored stuff in big bottles were lined up with neat things like cherries, oranges, lemons, and sugar. The atmosphere was busy and exciting. When the guests began to arrive, the first thing they got was something from those bottles. Everyone seemed to talk and laugh quite a bit, and after a while no one seemed to see you. Mom left her drink in the kitchen while she served some of those tasty cheese things she let you try earlier. One quick sip. "To keep the party going, keep the best on hand."

Perhaps people in your home drank on weekends, but not you. Mom and Dad said things like, "When you're of age" or "Wouldn't want to stunt your growth" or "This is a big people's drink." Anyway, you weren't getting any tastes. Somewhere along the school trail, you wound up at a party you had expected to be like all the others you'd been to. Not this time. Someone brought some beer, and everyone else was having some. There might have been a brief flash of guilt when you thought of the folks, but who wants to stick out in a crowd? So you kept up with the gang. Soon you felt as grown-up as you'd ever been. "On your night of nights, add that sophisticated touch."

Or perhaps your folks never touched the stuff. They were really opposed to alcohol. They gave you lots of reasons: "It's evil," "People who drink get into terrible trouble," "Vile stuff, it just eats you up " or even, "God's against it." Well, you admired your folks, or were scared of them, or you really believed the part about God's stand. Anyway, no one pushed you too much. Then came the army or college. It seemed as though everyone drank something, sometime, somewhere. They weren't dropping dead at the first sip or getting into too much trouble that you could see. Even if there was a little trouble, someone said, "Oh, well, he was just drunk, sowing some wild oats." Lightning didn't strike. You didn't see the devil popping out of glasses. Just the opposite, most of your friends seemed to be having a lot of fun. "When the gang gets together...." Bowling, fishing, sailing, hiking, beaching, everywhere.

It could be that you grew up with wine being served at meals. At some time you were initiated into the process as a matter of course. You never gave it a second thought.

You might have had a religious background that introduced you to wine as a part of your ritual acceptance into adulthood or as a part of your particular church's worship.

With time, age, and social mobility, the reasons for continuing to drink become more complex. It is not unusual to drink a bit more than one can handle at some point. After one experience of being drunk, and/or sick, and/or hung over, some people decide never to touch the stuff again. For most, however, something they are getting or think they are getting out of alcohol

makes them try it again. Despite liquor's real effects on us, most

of us search for an experience we have had with it, or want to

have with it, or have been led to believe that we can have with its

use. "As an essential part of the Good Life, - cannot be excelled."

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