Alcohol

[Nameless Range]

Not particularly hunting related, but I graduated 8th grade with about 20 other boys. I graduated high school with about the same. Of guys in my class who I went to K-12th grade with, which were all mostly the same folks, 5 are dead. When I think about all the ones who came and went, it really pans out to be about 15-20% of the boys I went to grade/high school with, are gone. 4 of the 5 of those deaths related to alcohol. Other's I grew up with are still here, but have had relationships collapse due to the drug. I am not even 40.

Got the news today that another one of my friends who I hadn’t seen in a few years is in the ICU with organ failure.

Alcohol is strange. For many, me included, it is part of the lighter times in my life. It’s absolutely a part of fishing and hunting camp. It’s never been a problem beyond self-induced misery. But for others, it tears worlds apart, and even ends worlds, and 20 years ago I would’ve never predicted for whom this would be the case.

Obviously, society has seen that prohibition causes more harm than good, and I wouldn’t want it. But I could see myself 100 years ago in the 19-teens, without the foreknowledge of what prohibition would bring, thinking that the world would be a better place without alcohol.

I know it’s not really hunting related, but venues to anonymously muse on things with likeminded people are lacking, and HuntTalk is that place for me.

 

[mdhunter]

The older I get the more I look at things (including alcohol) and ask myself "what is the upside"?

I agree, the stories that don't end well are too numerous to list.

 

[JLS]

thinking that the world would be a better place without alcohol.

As one who enjoys beer as much as anyone, it’s hard to argue against the net negative.

 

[duckhunt]

I grew up and still live in a small town. I've seen the same thing time and time again. I finally decided to put the bottle down last June and don't miss it one bit.

 

[jryoung]

Anything we put in front of ourselves as humans will test our self control, resilience and often chemical dependencies/imbalances. We are all subject to addiction.

140,000 deaths each year.

I own enough bottles of wine to kill a small village, but it doesn't get a second look as social acceptance is quite high.

 

[JLS]

I finally decided to put the bottle down last June and don't miss it one bit.

I find I drink less and less each year.

 

[Deleted member 52098]

I think in the last 5 months, I might have had 10 drinks. I'm having a harder and harder time finding the upside and oddly, I'm starting to get allergic reactions to alcohol (happened to my sister too). I've made it a goal to make it through June with nothing, and it helps that there are so many awesome NA options out there. Athletic brewing has some fantastic stuff and my wife just grabbed me a NA bourbon to try... as that's what I have missed the most.

 

[PrairieHunter]

The older I get the more I look at things (including alcohol) and ask myself "what is the upside"?

I agree, the stories that don't end well are too numerous to list.

Yep.

The older I get the less sugar and alcohol I consume. That shit will kill you and has no upside that I can tell.

 

[BackofBeyond]

I'm one of the lucky ones that figured out I was very allergic to it at a relatively young age. It's depressing to count the people that I graduated with 25 years ago that have died because of alcohol, drugs, or suicide.

Just glad I'm not one of them on that list.

 

[mtmuley]

I like to drink a few beers. Doing so doesn't affect any part of my life, my family, work or other relationships in a negative way. If it starts to, and at 57 I doubt it will then I'll reevaluate those few beers. mtmuley

 

[HighDesertSage]

I watched it take my grandparents and uncle. I hung it up last June. I refocused my energy on working out and I am down 45lbs.

 

[TOGIE]

I find it easier to say "nah, i don't want any" with each passing month. For no other reason that i sleep like shit enough as it is and to make that sleep even less effective with even 1 drink becomes unbearable most days.

I also find that my rest is much more effective when successfully off nicotine.

Odd you bring up how many people have died since high school. I was wondering what that figure was for myself recently. Not due to alcohol specifically, but just the sad reality that for many reasons, not everyone is gonna make it. And I don't know the answer. I'm aware of some freak accidents and maybe a few suicides, but I graduated with like 450 people and was only legitimately friends with like two of them, i just don't know what's happened. I only regularly see one of them now.

It's one of those awful thoughts I for some reason always have while wandering in the dark to take a piss in the middle of the night... "I wonder if I'm gonna make it?" Just the reality of existence right there, people don't make it and not everybody will. It's very unsettling and difficult to grapple with. I guess that's humanity.

I was at funeral at the end of 2021 for a close family friend roughly my age who committed suicide. I think you can maybe say with some confidence that he might still be alive had he not been drinking that night. Maybe.

I still love alcohol. Gosh i love whiskey. I love nothing more than sitting around a table with my family in a restaurant or at home having drinks and awaiting dinner. Truly one of my absolute greatest pleasures.

I think like a lot of things there is an element of family and upbringing that can help determine if alcohol is going to ruin your life or not. It can still happen to anybody, no doubt. But I think the statistics would point back towards certain family dynamics to some degree.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Seen it destroy a lot of lives and families where I grew up. The wake up call just never comes for some.

 

[SAJ-99]

Moderation, in a lot of things, is the key to life.

 

[Nicoli7153]

Because it's legal we don't treat it as the powerful drug that it is. Moderation and respect for it's power. I've had someone that I know well that went through AA and learned that it is the only drug that the withdrawls from it can kill you.

 

[Dougfirtree]

I'm painting a bullseye on my butt here, but non-alcoholic beer is pretty good these days...

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I'm painting a bullseye on my butt here, but non-alcoholic beer is pretty good these days...

When my wife got pregnant I dropped drinking, kinda in solidarity but also just seemed like an apt opportunity. I've been buying NA beer for a Friday afternoon beverage and have been pleasantly surprised.

It definitely doesn't taste like beer... but it's pretty amazing compared to the the crap they had 20 years ago.

In regard to the theme of the thread, I'll have drinks here and there going forward I think... but I think I'm mostly done drinking.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

 

[JLS]

I'm painting a bullseye on my butt here, but non-alcoholic beer is pretty good these days...

What are your preferred kinds?

 

[DouglasR]

I hope renegayed and beave don’t see this