There has been a lot of talk lately about the study showing just how much Americans booze it up. The strongest reaction by far has been to the top 10% of drinkers who put away a whopping 74 drinks a week. There has been shock and disbelief over that figure.
But I’m not surprised by those people. Mind you, I wouldn’t be able to survive what they do–my body isn’t that strong and my liver is already unhappy. But I can understand what drives them and where they’re coming from.
What is shocking to me is that 60% of the population either doesn’t drink at all or only drinks less than one drink a week. Really? What is their secret? Or maybe, what is their problem? How do they get through their day without feeling that hurting or at least, that restless itch which makes you want to have a drink so you can drown it out? Is it that they’ve found other ways to pacify themselves, like too much food or too much TV? Are they that emotionally strong? Or are they already numb?
The sober people are a fucking mystery to me. I’m going to need a shot of brandy to wrap my mind around that one.
eurobrat 
10/04/2014 at 9:39 pm
I have been sober for 8 months and some change and honestly it’s not that crazy…. It frees up a lot of time plus you can still do the same stuff except u don’t feel like shit the next morning
10/05/2014 at 1:09 pm
Well, over the years I’ve learned my limits, so I usually don’t feel like shit the next morning 🙂
That being said, if I were to go completely sober I would have to find a substitute for those days when I need to ease the tension or plug the hole in my soul.
10/06/2014 at 11:00 am
While I can certainly understand the desire to live in a perpetual state of inebriation, bordering on self-annihilation, there just isn’t enough “giggle juice” in the world to make me giggle more than 2-3 times a year. That’s why I remain sober more often than not. Unfortunately, being truly sober allows you to see our society for what it is; mired in the darkest recesses of human behaviour. Sure, booze (consumerism, mindless entertainment, religion and other opiums) can help you forget, but staying sober is a hell of a lot cheaper.
However, it’s important to note most of those 74-a-week drunks are the kind of drunks I hose off my front lawn every other morning. They are ignorant, unthinking, attention seeking, self-celebrators who can’t hold their liquor. They get into fights, vandalize anything in their way and fornicate with total strangers on people’s front porches…all while never letting go of their fucking cell phones.
As to why 60% of the population aren’t alcoholics, I think it might be because many of them drunk so much in the past, it no longer affects them. Either that, or they’ve taken up the aforementioned opiums.
10/06/2014 at 5:06 pm
Yeah, I forgot how obnoxious some of those heavy drinkers can be. I remember you’ve mentioned the party kids in your city before 🙂 I can still understand what drives people to drink that much–I might have been one of those people, if it wasn’t for the fact that my body doesn’t let me (which is a blessing and a curse). When I do drink, it doesn’t give me giggles, just mellows me out and relaxes me, something I sorely need.