PART 1: I DON'T DRINK ALCOHOL (AND I'M ANGRY)

I had my last glass of Chardonnay 12 years ago today.  My last glass of any drink containing alcohol, actually, but Chardonnay was my daily imbibe.  It tasted good, especially with seafood, or pizza, or salad, or chocolate chip cookies, or potato chips, or apples.  Basically I felt it a versatile pairing with anything on my plate.  Also great all by itself!  

No, I was not a daily "drunk" in the classic sense.  But I drank daily.  Occasionally I drank too much.  Very occasionally I drank way too much.  So do most people who drink alcohol.  Just about everyone can relate to having one too many and a hangover the next day at some time in their lives.  And generally don't learn their lesson.  So what, then, is the "classic sense"?  We still seem to picture "drunks" as sloppy, slovenly, perpetually slurring and stumbling and embarrassing.  Most of the time drinking isn't like that.  Even daily drinking.  Most of the time it's accepted, celebrated, social, and "harmless", right?  Hmmm....

Recent research is refuting the health benefits of alcohol.  Come to find out, those famous red wine studies showing it's good for heart health, and other studies recommending "moderate drinking", (even those done by our very government at the NIH) were funded by the alcohol industry.  So there's that.  (JAMA cites a study that an average of even 1 oz a day for women and 1.5 oz a day for men leads to increased death rates.  That's not a very generous pour!  Oops.)  

Alcohol use among older people can be especially problematic as our ability to metabolize the alcohol (yes, it's a poison after all), is less efficient, so we get drunk faster and harder.  (Harvard Health Publishing).  

And really, who can say who will be able to drink forever with little effect and who will end up being addicted?  80% of adults say they've had alcohol in their lives; 70% in the past month; 56% in the past week.  People are drinking.  And alcohol is a highly addictive drug -- the most commonly addictive drug in the US with over 6% of the population struggling with alcohol use disorder. (Caron Treatment Center)  

So those new studies showing it's "not safe in any dosage" will have an uphill battle getting the word out to an imbibing populace.  Alcohol culture is firmly entrenched.  

And alcohol culture advertising tells us that if we don't imbibe we are no fun, not attractive, not cool, not part of the conversation, not part of the group, not interesting, not sexy, not adult, not funny, not sophisticated, not, well, not part of the culture that calls us to drink for a million reasons -- to celebrate, to mourn, to socialize, to be a good host, to be a good guest, to de-stress, to relax, to "party", to mark life passages, to have a meal, to enjoy or to drown whatever emotions might bubble or befall us.  But I can ignore advertising, which is designed to sell insecurity and the cure for it with any number of products they push.

It's the every day culture of alcohol that is harder to be part of as a person who doesn't drink the stuff. When I quit drinking a friend lamented, "But now we can't go to Happy Hour!"  Because suddenly I was rendered mute, somber, and boring?  I admit, over the past 12 years I have become bored with having to listen to so many conversations about drinking that I could scream.  I am left out of huge swaths of family "fun", passing around various craft brews, wines, and spirits to sample and to analyze the flavors and brewing/distilling processes and stories of breweries (and wineries) visited and enjoyed.  I am slightly appalled that NO social gathering with anyone is ever alcohol-free.  People just wouldn't feel welcome or celebrated without an alcoholic drink offered.

I am pissed that there is no actual word for a mixed drink not containing alcohol that does not set it apart from one that does.  (They are commonly called non-alcoholic, near-beer, mocktail, virgin, even "temperance drink".)  It reminds me of the whole "woman doctor" trope, or using "he" to refer to both "he and she".  There is no way to identify a drink not containing alcohol except in relationship to its opposite.

The industry is making alcohol oh so much easier to access and more attractive too -- especially to younger people.  Mixed drinks and wine now come in soda-pop looking cans.  Slogans printed on bags, wall plaques, glasses, caps, t-shirts, you name it...all extoll the silly fun of drinking!  It's a fruit!!!

There are entire festivals dedicated to drinking alcohol.  Our town is gearing up for its annual Beer Fest where whole city blocks are roped off so revelers can wander from brewery tent to brewery tent with tokens to spend on tasters of beer.  Later this summer the same will be set up for  the wine annual festival at the waterfront.  For these events, I used to be the designated driver, then I stopped going so I was the designated babysitter at home, then when babysitting wasn't needed I decided to just stay home alone. But  I discovered my "vibe" was very different from those who had gone and came home with a few under their belts.  Nope. This year I'm leaving town.  I plan do an annual weekend getaway on beer fest weekend.

I've been told I'm too judgmental, too strident, too sensitive; I should live and let live, it's not a big deal, it's part of human nature to seek out mind-altering substances, it's historic, and I should stop worrying about how all of this impacts children and teens ("in Europe kids drink wine"!). I should stop being so vocal about my values and recognize my values are not shared by others which I should "radically accept".  And mostly I try to keep a lid on it.  But I tell ya, alcohol culture is everywhere.  That celebrating and accepting the use of an addictive substance is seen as "normal" and I'm seen as strident for my choice and opinion is a bit much to take.  

At least, that's the view from here...©

P.S. Part 2 coming up -- Life without alcohol is good!