<p>NOTHING EVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.</p>
<p>It all depends on who your friends are. I choose to surround myself with other productive people.</p>
<p>I don’t care what anybody’s story is, there is no need for alcohol in anybody’s life.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>there are a ton of people who are smarter, more productive, will be more successful than you are/will be who drink, smoke, do drugs…</p>
<p>I don’t care what anybody’s story is, there is no need for alcohol in anybody’s life.</p>
<ol>
<li>Just because there isn’t a need doesn’t mean it should be completely eliminated. There are plenty of things people do, not because they’re absolutely necessary, but because they’re enjoyable. I’m a pretty healthy kid most days, but every once in a while, I’ll have a slice of chocolate cake. Sure, I don’t need to eat cake - it doesn’t have any nutritional value, but I enjoy cake from time to time, so I indulge myself a little. No they’re not exactly the same. Yes, consuming alcohol can be dangerous, even deadly. But just like many things, when consumed responsibly and in moderation, it’s not that big of a deal. Drinking doesn’t prevent you from engaging in other aspects of campus life any more than not drinking prevents you from being social. I don’t think that any of these things are mutually exclusive.</li>
<li>I think the word “need” indicates a problem. If you “need” alcohol in your life, you probably have an addiction.</li>
</ol>
<p>diesel, you aren’t one of those people. You read way too far into what I said. Also, I highly doubt that people who take high amounts of drugs are successful. They may have success in terms of money, but their life is filled with holes that they feel drugs will fill. Thus they aren’t successful.</p>
<p>Perhaps you feel inadequate when compared to a clean person like me. Perhaps you are trying to justify it being okay that you take drugs. Don’t lie, we can correctly infer that you indeed do.</p>
<p>cameron, what you say is true. Realize, however, that alcohol changes who you normally are, even in the slightest amount.</p>
<p>If you drink such a small amount in moderation that it barely has an effect, why drink it at all?</p>
<p>success has a different meaning for each person, but i’m glad that you’re so far up on your moral high horse that you can tell others if the are successful or not. and if i wanted to get some sort of counsling on why i think i’m inadequate i’d go to someone with a degree.</p>
<p>thanks for all your help though, i truly feel better about myself now.</p>
<p>cameron, what you say is true. Realize, however, that alcohol changes who you normally are, even in the slightest amount.</p>
<p>If you drink such a small amount in moderation that it barely has an effect, why drink it at all?</p>
<p>To answer your questions, I understand the changes alcohol can have on a person. I have generally found myself to be a happy “drunk” (I use this term to loosely describe the way I behave when drinking, not to imply that I am a drunk/alcoholic) - I become more outgoing, giggly and positive. I tend to be a very serious person in some settings, and enjoy the effect alcohol has on me.</p>
<p>I don’t mean that when I drink, I drink so little that it has no effect on me. By drinking responsibly and in moderation I mean seldom and on occasion, not as an activity unto itself but as something that augments a pre-existing social gathering. By drinking responsibly, I mean drinking within my limits (I don’t enjoy drinking beyond the point of being tipsy, and I consider myself to be a good judge of when I have reached that point), and otherwise exercising good judgment (I have never gotten behind the wheel of a car after drinking, regardless of how little it was, I do not engage in otherwise risky behaviors while drinking like having unprotected sex, etc.) As to why I drink at all (aside from the aforementioned enjoyable side effects) I also enjoy drinking alcohol as a beverage. I don’t hang out with a cheap beer & vodka crowd. We typically make mixed drinks (pina coladas, spiked shirley temples) or drink wine. The group of friends I hang out with doesn’t like to get “wasted”, we like to relax, have a good time, and wake up the next morning without regrets or a hangover. I run with a pretty tame crowd, and see nothing wrong with using alcohol responsibly.</p>
<p>just drink enough to get a nice warm buzz…and then you’ll find out “why do people drink alcohol?”</p>
<p>i never drank until the second semester of my senior year of high school, and never really understood why all my friends were so into partying until i actually came to a house party with them and had a few beers and a screwdriver or two. no pressure, just a good time, and that’s what it’s about.</p>
<p>"Perhaps you feel inadequate when compared to a clean person like me. "</p>
<p>HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.</p>
<p>Alright, are you a ■■■■■?</p>
<p>“I don’t care what anybody’s story is, there is no need for alcohol in anybody’s life.”</p>
<p>You also win todays award for not reading the thread. Nobody says anyone needs alcohol, just that we like it and when done in moderation it isn’t harmful. Unless you lead some spartan lifestyle where you never eat dessert, never watch TV and never get on the computer except for school related activities, I’m going to venture a guess that you do a lot of things that you don’t “need” to do.</p>
<p>“Perhaps you are trying to justify it being okay that you take drugs.”</p>
<p>Theres nothing to justify. When done responsibly it is ok. I don’t have to prove it’s right, you have to prove it’s wrong. Mommy told you not to isn’t a valid reason, either.</p>
<p>“Realize, however, that alcohol changes who you normally are, even in the slightest amount.”</p>
<p>So?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And I respect your decision not to drink; however, it seems as though you imply that individuals who do drink are unproductive. If I interpreted that statement correctly, then it could not be farther from the truth.</p>
<p>Even though I’m pretty much anti-drugs, anti-drinking (personal decision, and I usually don’t criticize others for it, unless they get way out of hand), I can recall a few people who act as examples against the argument that “all people who drink/do drugs are idiots”. For example, Feynman often experimented with drugs and regularly attended strip clubs.</p>
<p>I said this on another thread but: some of the greatest minds on earth were drunks or dopefiends.</p>
<p>jack kerouac wrote “on the road” in 20 days on an amphetamine high. Allen Ginsberg was a part of the Multi-colored kool-aid acid test with ken kesey in the 60’s,
name any good and influential artist/musician in the 20th century and chances are they were smoking the ganja, and definitely drinking, if not more.</p>
<p>you could probably count on one hand the number of straight-edge influential artists and thinkers in the last 150 years.</p>
<p>I don’t know if you could count “On the Road” as a particularly intellectual text. XD</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is actually probably close enough to truth.</p>
<p>Dude, the Beatles were tripping ALL THE TIME and they’re some of the greatest musicians ever. Bob Marley was always smokin on the ganj (it’s practically his trademark) and he’s another really amazing artist. And not that she’s on the same level as these guys, but I adore Amy Winehouse and her music and she’s probably a bigger drunk than Lindsay Lohan (saying something there). </p>
<p>There are many things we don’t “need” to do. Eating junk food is one. But I still do it because it’s yummy. Going to tell me not to do that as well? That it’s unnecessary and I’m a bad person for it? Well, I’m sorry. I’m still going to eat my chocolate bars and ice cream. And I’m still going to drink my alcohol and have a good time unlike some people here who really need to loosen up a bit. (I’m not saying do it with alcohol, but seriously. Get a grip.)</p>
<p>“on the road” is the definitive text of the beat generation my man…changed my life!!! "I’ve always searched for the people that interest me, the mad ones, those mad to live, mad to talk, mad to breathe, who never yawn or say a common place thing, who burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the night sky as everyone looks up and the blue center-light goes “pop” and everyone goes…“awwwww”</p>
<p>damn</p>
<p>Forgive me for before. When I said “productive people,” I meant one of the extremes where I go to school. There are the kids like me who care about their future and then there are the kids whose lives revolve around alcohol.</p>
<p>but there are lots of kids in between that i think you are forgetting about.</p>
<p>You’d think we would’ve successfully answered this question (Why do people drink alcohol?) in ten pages already…</p>
<p>I think it’s to fit in and have a good time.</p>
<p>b/c its fun for some people. I hate this thread.</p>
<p>“Forgive me for before. When I said “productive people,” I meant one of the extremes where I go to school. There are the kids like me who care about their future and then there are the kids whose lives revolve around alcohol.”</p>
<p>yea, and then there are kids who care about there future AND drink…and then there are people like u who spend there time online instead of meeting people and networking</p>
<p>coping with stress and enjoying vices are part of life. Smoke, drink, skydrive, rock climb, ski-whatever floats your boat and makes you feel more alive. reading this thread, there are way too many value judgments being made and way too many people on the extreme side. I’m not straight-edge and I’m not an alcoholic or druggie.</p>