My sister turned 21 a couple of days ago and it has got me thinking...
Personally, I am not a big fan of bars and clubs. I generally avoid going to these establishments for a number of reasons: I don't like the second hand smoke, it is often too loud for me to carry on a conversation with someone standing right next to me, I don't like being hit on by men who are old enough to be my father, and I don't enjoy having men look at me like some piece of meat. I also don't really drink. I don't like the taste of alcohol and I don't really see the point of drinking. I don't feel that I need to be drunk to have a good time and I have absolutely no desire to wake up with a hangover in the morning. I've never been drunk so who knows? Maybe I am just missing out on some wonderful experience, but I've seen people with hangovers and it sure doesn't seem worth it to me. Furthermore, alcohol is expensive, so it just seems like some massive waste of money.
On my 21st birthday I had a small get together with a few friends at my apartment. I enjoy cooking, so I made dinner and my roommate made drinks. No one was drunk, but we all still had a perfectly good time.
For my sister's 21st birthday she wanted to go out to some of the bars downtown. I went with her as designated driver. I was pleased to find that Wichita bars are largely smoke free, but the environment still made me uncomfortable. We stayed out until the bars closed and then went over to a friend's apartment. My sister ended up passing out about an hour after we arrived at the apartment. The next morning she didn't remember anything that had happened after leaving the bar. This is another reason that I don't have any desire to get drunk. I can't imagine waking up in the morning and having no recollection of the night before. I would hate to think I might have done something that I would regret.
By now it is probably apparent that my sister and I have quite different opinions on some things. My sister has told me that she would love for me to get drunk sometime. She thinks that I am far too uptight and she thinks that I should let loose from time to time. I think that a lot of my discomfort with alcohol stems from the fact that my parents are completely opposed to it. Growing up, there was never any alcohol of any kind ever kept in our house. My parents never drink and for a long time I told myself that even when I turned 21, I would never drink either. I am now of the opinion that drinking in moderation is not a problem, but I don't think that most people my age drink in moderation. Despite thinking that drinking in moderation is okay, I still feel a twinge of guilt every time I have a drink. Now my sister and I grew up in the same house, but where I had always hated the thought of my parents' disapproval, my sister never really cared what they thought.
What are your opinions on bars and drinking? It sure seems that there are not very many people my age who don't drink. I find it frustrating that people think a party has to have alcohol in order for it to be a good time. Do you agree with my sister that I am just too uptight? ;-)
Personally, I'm against it. There are better things that people can do or go to to have a good time or relieve stress. Part of the problem is that the other areas just aren't as readily available or initially as potent as alcohol might be for giving someone a sense of pleasure or mellowness. But I still find it a waste of time. Jesus and the other Jews probably drank wine partially because the water back then I assume wasn't purified like it is today, which means there would have possibly been bacteria and other harmful things in it, and partially because they didn't have the variety back then that we have today, at least in the developed countries. Today there are a million alternatives for taste when it comes to what we drink, and the water, in general, is safe to drink. So there is no reason to drink alcohol outside of to tempt fate and to try to get some sort of buzz. Imo, we need to be spending more time researching and pursuing healthier stress-relief alternatives instead of turning to alcohol.
As for me, I don't want my judgment impaired so that I end up doing something I regret later.
