Alcohol

[Slim]

Prompted by Nick's comment about a period of abstinence in another thread and especially perhaps for those of us who may not have a straightforward relationship with alcohol, including myself, I thought I'd start a discussion here.

I started drinking occasionally very young - my parents were very liberal about it and perhaps naive about the possible adverse effects of drinking on children, although I don't seem to have been harmed personally. Even at eight or nine years old I'd get my own glass of wine in a restaurant, and my dad would give me small glasses of beer every now and then at home.

I can say with certainty that I was accustomed to drinking wine at the age of eight, because I remember being at a restaurant in France with my family on our holiday in 1968. My dad asked for a glass of wine for me, the waiter looked a little uncertain and asked "shall ah give 'eem just a leetle bit in case he don' like eet?" And my dad proudly replied "no, he definitely likes it".

Despite being an early starter though I don't think I drank any more or less than my sixth-form contemporaries typically did once I was in my late teens. I made the same stupid mistakes as anyone else, making myself sick, going to bed with the room spinning round and all that.

It wasn't until I was in my '20s and my taste for whisky developed that I started, as a mature adult, to binge drink quite regularly.

Anyway - to be continued, but please do share your own experiences / thoughts if you'd like to share.

[pxr5]

I started around 15, going to pubs with my old man and out with friends. My intake certainly increased when I joined the military when I was 17 - but it was just a way of life for all of us. I started playing Rugby and that was even worse, but again it was something that was expected and natural then. Nowadays I only drink at weekends and sprits only at Christmas - I've never bothered with dry January as I don't feel the need.