a poll on alcohol

[snugglekitty]

Because I'm curious.



[Poll #878808]

Comments

[jacflash.livejournal.com]

I have maybe three drinks a week, on average, rarely more than one in a single day. That's an average - some weeks I have more, some weeks I have none. What I like to drink varies by season -- as a general rule, I prefer lighter beers, gin-and-lime drinks, white wine, and absinthe in spring and summer, and Belgian ales, red wine, cognac, and whisky in fall and winter.

My drinking doesn't seem to correlate with my stress levels. Sometimes I'm in the mood, sometimes not. I have no history of addiction to anything except cigarettes, and have never (college experimentation excepted) been a heavy drinker.

I haven't been drunk in ages. It doesn't happen more than once or twice a year, at the most, and always with friends and/or family and always when I'm not driving.

[jacflash.livejournal.com]

To be clear, I currently define "drunk" as "not safe to drive", and I have a pretty low threshold for that. I haven't been falling-down-drunk since nineteen-ninety-something.

buzz, tipsy, drunk, under the influenced, or intoxicated?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

How do you define drunk? I ask because I've spoken to a lot of people who get very defensive about the term, and talk as though you're not drunk unless you're falling down and throwing up: "I wasn't drunk, I was just tipsy," etc. By that definition, I've never been drunk, so I don't find it a useful one.

So to be clear on my answer, I define it as being sufficiently affected by alcohol that I won't drive. (Which is well under DUI limits for me, since I'm really anal about that sort of thing.)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I always offer my guests a drink (and alcohol is an option), whether it's a party or just one or two people coming over. I find it hard to imagine declaring anything I hosted dry (putting aside times when there might be legal issues or the like) because I trust my friends and it's up to them to decide whether they want a drink. I might make choices regarding availability to set a tone or mood, but banning alcohol? Unless it was a nicety for a friend of Bill, I don't see it.

For plenty of people, one drink or less is enough to help them relax a little and have a better time and I don't see what the problem is with that. It's not that different from drinking a cup of coffee in the morning to help wake up.

Personally, I neither drink coffee (at all) nor consume alcohol with any regularity, so this isn't just a rationalization for my own beverage habits, but it was the subject of a recent discussion with some friends.

Re: buzz, tipsy, drunk, under the influenced, or intoxicated?

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

So to be clear on my answer, I define it as being sufficiently affected by alcohol that I won't drive. (Which is well under DUI limits for me, since I'm really anal about that sort of thing.)

Yeah. I don't drive, but... I think some kind of impairment is what I'm talking about. Something beyond tipsy. Tipsy plus one drink. :)

[catya.livejournal.com]

I quite serious drinking when i was 18, along with all other drugs - i drink occasionally now, mostly sharing a beer or a glass of wine or a hard cider, occasionally in the summer up in maine drinking my own. I enjoy things like port or irish cream, but have the only every few months.

I probably have alcohol a couple times a month?

[fraterrisus]

specific circumstances: i drink a lot more when i'm playing ultimate regularly, because i tend to go out to bars with my teammates after games.

now that i live within stumbling walking distance of my favorite bars, though, i drink significantly more often. it used to be once a week tops, and is now more like two or three times a week.

[teratomarty.livejournal.com]

I generally restrict my drinking to the evenings of Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and seldom drink anything stronger than Guinness, which is enough to get me tipsy.

The one exception is when I have a migraine. Nothing but Guinness touches them, and I would happily chug-a-lug in the office on Monday morning to get rid of one. I respect alcohol's medicinal qualities.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I checked "I drink when I'm stressed out", but what I really mean is "I go through phases when I feel more like drinking, and there's usually some sort of life stress that has just been applied or just been removed, but I don't go through one of these phases every time that happens".

[dilletante.livejournal.com]

i checked "i drink more than usual around my friends," but what i really mean is "it would almost never occur to me to drink alone."

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Good point.

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

I'm too big of a control freak to give alcohol control of my mind or behavior.

The first time I went to a gay bar, I ordered a screwdriver and drank it between dances. When it was gone, I ordered another one. Halfway through that second one, I could tell that I didn't feel exactly as I had before. I put it down unfinished and never had more than one drink in a day after that.

Eventually, I realized that I like my fruit juices better when they're unfermented, and I don't have to drink alcohol to prove that I'm a grown-up. So I drink my orange juice or grape juice or carrot juice or cranberry juice with nothing in it, and that suits me best.

When I was in my early 20's and doing Janet in a Rocky Horror group, the woman who did Columbia was a friend of mine. I was out to her about being gay, and it was clear that this made her slightly uncomfortable. When she was sober, she was careful to walk with a little more distance than usual between us, so that people who knew her wouldn't get the wrong idea. When she was drunk, she would hang on me and tell me she loved me.

I've had a horror of drinking and drunk people ever since.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

I've had a horror of drinking and drunk people ever since.

I can relate, completely.

Once in college, I was fooling around with a pretty redhaired boy at a party (I think it was the first time I had had alcohol, actually), and his girlfriend came in. She was really drunk and said she wanted to join us. The next morning, she was horrified and threw me out of her bed. Since then, I would never drink and play or play with anyone while they're drunk.

I'm fine with "tipsy." I don't get drunk except by accident.

[butterflywing.livejournal.com]

I drank more around firefighters than anyone else.
I don't drink now because of my Crohns.

To Clarify

[elkor.livejournal.com]

Ever thought a social occaision would be improved by alcohol?

I generally preffer my events dry, but there are some times that I think alcohol helps. Example: When getting together to make fun of bad movies. Playing cards/games for fun (inebriated Apples to Apples is amusing).

Do your drinking habits change given season or circumstance?

I think overall I drink more in the spring than any other time of year. Probably because I like wine with fresh fruit. I probably drink the least in the fall.

Clarifications:

[avivasedai.livejournal.com]

I was drunk once, intentionally, because I wanted to know what it was like. Frankly, I was in a friend's apartment, he made me drinks from his liquor cabinet, some I liked and some I didn't, and it was a good experience. I do not go out to bars to drink, I do not like the majority of "hard" liquor, and it's difficult to get drunk on liqueurs.

I've been tipsy twice... three times, maybe: enough alcohol to have a noticable effect on my visual tracking; once (twice) from port, once from too strong screwdrivers or something at a party in college. Again, not bad experiences, but I don't seek them out. I occasionally make "girly" drinks with alcohol - sweet creamy sometimes with ice-cream.

Do my drinking habits change given seasons, whatnot? You had no option for "no." I drink rarely, sometimes because I want something sweet on my tongue, or to use a cute glass (my sister has cute little glasses perfect for a wee drop of Frangelico or Baileys), or because others are drinking. That doesn't really change for weather.

Re: Clarifications:

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Do my drinking habits change given seasons, whatnot? You had no option for "no."

You're completely right, and I meant to. My bad.

[water-childe.livejournal.com]

I like having a beer, a small glass of wine, or a small shot of whiskey in the evenings. Not always every day. On adverage 2 to 3 times a week. I enjoy fine wine, well aged pricey scotches, and odd handcrafted beers. It's rare that I get anything more then 'mellow. Getting drunk is not the goal. I enjoy the flavor and it helps slow things down after a busy day of having to be 'on' all the time to ensure the safety of a curious infant.