Tag Archives: alcohol

Fifty Times a Day

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The man said, “Giving up cigarettes is one of the easiest things I ever did. I did it fifty times a day.” I have often said that food addiction is probably one of the most difficult of all. It is ultimately impossible because none of us is able to go cold turkey and just stop eating. I mean, at some point, giving it up is worse than getting fat. As one who fights the battle of the bulge, I am all too aware of the temptations. One minute I am saying outlaw chocolate; the next, I am scarfing it up by the pound. Thank goodness for diet drinks, or I’d have been pushing up the proverbial daisies years ago.

Many problem drinkers adamantly claim, “I’m not an alcoholic. I can stop drinking whenever I want.” Yet, the irony lies in the fact that they never actually want to quit. A preacher once colorfully described this phenomenon, suggesting such individuals have a “broken wanter” – a metaphorical term implying a deep-seated inability to truly desire change, despite outward assertions of control over their drinking habits.

Please forgive me for zeroing in on the problem drinker. Though he would seem to be one of the biggest problems in society, he is far from being the only one. My doctor says I should not eat so many hamburgers. And, by the way, I can give up hamburgers any time I want. However, habits, really deadly bad habits, extend throughout the US. Indeed, it would seem to be most problematic in societies with the greatest wealth.

Perhaps I should not say that. Someone might suggest that my Social Security be halved as a treatment for my clogged arteries.

I suppose, ideally, the easiest way to resolve the problem is to repair those little wanters that the preacher mentioned. However, before we could hope to do that, we would need to find the little things.

Some might go so far as to outlaw certain foods. Some substances are already illegal. Yet, each year the problem only seems to get worse. I think that close to half of our law enforcement efforts are spent eradicating harmful substances now.

Ah, the classic dilemma: solve chaos with total control or embrace the beautiful mess of human imperfection. I’d rather dance with disorder than waltz into a surveillance state—some cures are deadlier than the disease.

An Alternate Universe

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I wish I had a ten dollar bill for every time time I’ve been told how prohibition failed…very badly. Regretfully, I must agree. Partly, this was because those in charge of enforcement of the law were some of the worst violators of the law.

I guess we have learned our lesson. When it came to tobacco, they realized they needed a different approach. They didn’t even consider outlawing it.

Instead, they used a multi-pronged approach. They virtually stopped smoking in this country. All advertising, drastically decreased, it was gradually disallowed in various places and now it is banned just almost entirely.

Very few smoke today. Another decade or two and it will virtually disappear from our nation, to which I say, GOOD RIDDANCE! Who knows? It might stop climate change.

How-some-ever, it has prompted me to think, what if we had used the same method on alcoholic beverages? If, and again I say if we had used the other other method as with tobacco, would we today be living in an alternate universe?

Perhaps, today many people would have their loved ones they lost in a car accident caused by someone under the influence. Maybe there would be thousands less divorces and no one could figure the children would who would have been saved from broken homes. I can’t even imagine a guess at all the health problems that wouldn’t have been suffered. Alcoholic beverages cause more severe health problems than tobacco. If you doubt what I’m saying, ask Mickey Mantle. Oops. Can’t do that. He died from liver disease brought by alcoholic beverages.

Many times I have been told that alcoholism is the number one drug problem in this country. And yet alcoholic beverages are some of the biggest advertisers in the US. When you include the subtle ads hidden in plain sight In movies and TV shows. And, of course, they always put good light on it. And, of course, they make it appear as if it is far more common than in the real world.

For me, I would much prefer that alternate universe. The problem is I must live in the one I’m in. So does everyone else.

Pilgrims Drank Beer

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I did have all this planned out on what I was going to say and how I was going to say it. However, when I did my little bit of research, I realized that facts got in the way. (frustrating things, those facts) It would have been little more than guessing.

As I looked, one article would say this. One would say that. There were even doubts it would seem, within the individual writings. It seemed simple when I started. They drank beer to avoid getting sick. It was what I heard from several sources. Now, I don’t know what is true about it. I read one article, which says one thing. Then I read another that says something else.

Let’s try to at least start with what is commonly accepted by one and all. Beer was put on the Mayflower before they sailed. I think we can assume from that that they drank beer before they left. Whatever they did after they arrived was likely close to what they did before they left.

It is said that the reason they landed at early, at Plymouth Rock, because the ran out of beer. I have no idea. Some say one thing. Some say another. You are welcome to do your own research.

It is generally accepted the children drank the beer too. Also, no one drank to access.

Finally, it is true that in the day, people did get sick from the water. It contained all kinds of microbes they knew nothing of. It would stand to reason that if they drank water, they might get sick. When they drank the beer, they remained healthy. It would stand to reason that they avoided that which seemed to make them sick.

As an aside, I also heard that the Roman soldiers boiled water as a religious thing, It greatly attributed to their health which made them stronger and faster soldiers. I don’t know if that is true either. It does sound logical. People who are sick can’t fight as well. However, I don’t know. I suppose it might have been because they drank beer as the pilgrims, instead of water.

Fact is, when making the brew, the water must be heated. That would kill the microbes. The fermentation has nothing to do with it.

At any rate, we no longer have that reason to drink beer. We have perfectly safe water, most of the time. Staying healthy is no longer a valid reason.

Those that know me; those that have read most of my posts, know that I don’t like alcoholic beverages. When people find that out, I get these sayings, “The pilgrims drank beer,” as if that makes it okay. They they find out I am Christian and they say, “Jesus drank wine.”

Let’s get this straight. You want to drink, then drink. Don’t try to justify it. Regardless of anything else, the alcohol is still the one most society damaging drug, no matter the reasons.

This one fact I know. I have seen it all my life. I have even experienced it myself. If you want to do something badly enough, you can think of a reason. So, let’s get it straight. You drink alcohol because you want to. You say you can stop any time you want to. However, of course, you don’t want to. You can always find reasons. But the one truth you don’t want to admit. You want to drink. There is no force on earth that will change that.

As for Jesus drinking wine, I am not about to try to defend that. Some say the wine was weaker back then. I don’t know.

My reason for being against alcohol started a long time before I was saved and has little to do with my belief in Jesus. It was from a personal experience in my family. My belief has only been fortified over the years. Moreover, it is backed up by the numbers today. One third of fatal accidents are caused by drunk drivers. Think about that the next time before you drink before driving.

Let me throw this at you. If you come home and find your babysitter drunk, you would fire her and refuse to pay her. Yet, you get even more drunk than she while watching your kids, and never think a thing about it.

As I said, you want to drink, you will drink. If you want to get drunk, you will get drunk, no matter who else it endangers. I know. I’ve seen it. You think it over a little. You’ve seen it too.

The fact is, excuses are easy to come up with. We are all well practiced at it, myself included. It just is, I had different things I wanted to excuse.

One excuse I did find most remarkable was Mickey Mantle’s. He admitted it. Those in his family died early in life. So why not drink? Well, he did die early, because of the alcohol, not because of the genes he inherited. He came on TV and admitted he made the mistake. And so it was that his liver failed him. That’s a real shame. Mantle really seemed to be a great guy, the type most would like to know.

Well, at least he didn’t use the old excuse that pilgrims drank beer. He made the mistake. He knew it and he owned it. I guess I need to recognize him for that.

The Two Things They All Have In Common

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During my 76 years, I have seen my share of alcoholics. They all very in many ways. Some get angry or even violent when drunk. Some get happy. On the other hand, some just simply sit there and let the world go by. A few know better than to try to drive . Others, well you might need to hide their keys. A few have a reasonable memory of what happened while inebriated. Others, when they sober up will say they must have had a good time. Their wallet’s empty. It does make a person wonder what the started with.

None the less, all alcoholics do have a few things that are absolutely common. They want others to drink. It helps their guilty conscience. When they start on one of their binges, they are usually specific about what kind of alcohol they drink. Once partially under, they just might drink antifreeze if you put it in front of them.

Invariably, while their mental abilities are reduced, they will say that they are fully able to function as well as when sober. In some cases, this distortion will be maintained even when they can’t stand.

Frequently, people under the influence will try to do things they would never try sober. Ironically, they are less likely to be successful while impaired.

To be sure, I really wished I hadn’t seen any of it. To be sure, those around the alcoholic generally suffer more than the alcoholic. In some cases, those that suffer the most don’t even know the one under the influence.

However, what ever the common facts of the alcoholics, two things are always, and I mean always common. They all took their first drink and they never know when they will take their last one. Then too, most of them have one more thing in common. Most wish or will wish they never took the first drink. However, as they say, that is just one of those things that can’t be undone.

Then too, this is all shared by most of those with chemical dependencies. It is only logical. Alcoholism is a chemical dependency. The only big difference is that alcohol is legal. Well, there is one other difference. It causes more problems than all the other drugs combined.

Down With Tobacco

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When I went into the Marines, I would guess that at least 75% in the armed services smoked. Even then the Surgeon General spoke of the evils of it. If I remember right, it was about then that the tobacco companies were asked to withdraw their advertisements from TV. After all, the ads were aimed at the youth of the time. They encouraged children to pick up the “cancer sticks,” as they were referred to.

To be sure, everyone knew they weren’t healthy, but many didn’t care, for a number of reasons. Certainly those in war zones where their life was in danger anyway, had little reason to give up smoking. After leaving the service, the habit had its hold in most of those who did not have the forethought of the hazards.

All four of my brothers picked up smoking and three smoked until the day they died. One of them gave up the habit at 70. Ironically, the smoking did not figure into the deaths of any of them. However, I knew many who did die of tobacco related deaths. I for one was glad to see the virtual death of the tobacco industry.

How-some-ever, when we tried to do away with alcohol, we failed. Most of the common, law abiding folks gave it up. However, if a person could look in on the lives of the rich, the famous and the politicians, I think we would have seen many who were living well outside the law and without anything that resembled a conscious or law enforcement for that matter.

I can’t prove it. I don’t have the where-with-all to do the research. However, you and I both know that for every death or injury caused by tobacco, there are likely 3 or 4 caused by alcohol. This is as measure of both direct and indirect.

I have seen the affects of alcohol both in person and in the news. The true question is, can the real measure of destruction ever be measured? I don’t know, but when I was in the Marines, I was told by truly reliable sources that alcohol caused more problems than all the other drugs in the Marine Corps. I would suspect it is also true in the other services.

Yet, drinking of alcoholic beverages is not discouraged. Indeed, it is encouraged. Those, as me, who do not drink quickly are on the outside. With any promotion over the rank of E-5, a “Wet down,” is expected. When I made E-6, I’m sure I was expected to do something, but I didn’t. When others had wet downs, I didn’t attend. When the squadron I was in had beer a party, I didn’t go. You can imagine the results that had.

When I was in Vietnam, we occasionally ran out of soft drinks, but never beer. The priority of alcohol, even in a combat zone was right at the top. I suppose something could be said about it helping the morale of the troops but what did it imply to those of us who didn’t drink.

While in the Marines, I thought it would be different in civilian life. The fact is that it is the same, just in a different way. Those who don’t drink are encouraged to start. Those who start as a result of the pressure and become alcoholics are fired because they can’t do their job anymore.

We no longer encourage children to smoke. On the other hand, drinking is encouraged regularly. Even family shows such as on Hallmark, show people drinking at virtually every opportunity. It is displayed as even more commonplace than it is.

Every time the TV crime solvers solve another crime, they meet in their favorite bar and they celebrate. I’m not in law enforcement but, I really hope that is not the common practice in reality. Moreover, I am sure there are those in law enforcement who don’t drink and I wonder how they are treated when I remember how it was for me while in the Marines.

It does make me wonder what might happen if the surgeon started requiring warning labels on bottles and cans of alcoholic beverages. I wonder what might happen if it would become illegal to advertise alcohol on TV. I wonder what might happen if people start becoming shamed for showing scenes of people drinking on TV, especially in a positive way.

I don’t think that will happen. For every ounce of power in our political system that tobacco had, alcohol has a pound, maybe two. It simply won’t happen. Nor will they start trying to tax the industry out of existence as with tobacco.

There is no way I would ever want tobacco to contribute to my income. However, if I were high in the industry of tobacco, I might have a tendency to yell, unfair. Moreover, I think I would have a just reason. Alcohol is much worse and, not only is it not discouraged, but it is encouraged. And yet, no one complains.

Little ol’ me; I really don’t think anyone is going to pay any attention to me, certainly not those who like the sauce, certainly not those who make their fortunes from it. In the meantime, people die from it. People become crippled and maimed in car accidents. Wives and children are abused because of it.

Then again, it’s not the fault of those who make and distribute it. Also, we all know how important the beverages are. Those who partake of them know that they just can’t live without them.

And so it is that we continue to encourage the most costly drug this nation has ever seen.

On the other hand, we sure did take out the tobacco industry, in what, two decades. Maybe it’s time to start suing those making whisky, when someone dies with a bad liver. (Don’t think that will work)