Alcohol

I've had several alcohol related thoughts going through my head lately.

I suppose to summarise my general thoughts on alcohol I'd have to say I'm against it. Because I'm totally against the fact that people drink it to get drunk and make themselves feel more uninhibited. I do understand why at parties and things people would WANT to feel less reserved, but I think it's wrong. If you're not outgoing enough to be free and wild at a party, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, it's just not in your nature. There's no reason why that is a bad thing so why should we use a drug to change it? Changing your personlity for such a reason as to feel more free-minded is never necessary or acceptable.
On top of that, the thought of not remembering what I did for any length of time is terrifying to me. Anything could have happened. ANYTHING. Replace that "anything" with all the horrific things that go on these days. I kind of think that if you've intoxicated yourself and then get raped and pregnant, you've asked for it. You put yourself in a vulnerable state. And that is what comes from it. Your mistake, no one else's. I'd never say rape is OK, but in situations like that, it's hardly suprising.

So those are my opinions on alcohol as a recreational substance.

However, I have another point of view aswell, which has caused me a lot of mental dilemmas lately. Basically, I've been brought up drinking alcohol. My dad and my grandpa are very much into fine wines and beers and I've grown up having sips of theirs. I have even developed a taste for it and am getting better at identifying wines by sipping them the right way. Now, at parties, I am more than happy having one drink, but this will always be beer. And the reason for this is that it tastes like alcohol. All these spirits, spritzers and "designer drinks" literally are alcohol for the sake of it. You can't taste it; you drink it for the effect. Whereas I drink it because I genuinely like the taste. I don't drink to get drunk, tipsy or mentally affected at all which I think is proven by the fact that I will have no more than one drink.
My problem is that my friends are very, very different to me. A lot of them drink more than I'd ever dream of. How this offends me because they evidently need the alocohol to have a good time when we're together is a whole other story...
Anyway, I'm not going to sugar coat this in any way which is why I'm going to say this as it is: People who I thought understood my morals have tried to pressure me into drinking more than what I wanted. Luckily, I am sensible and level-headed enough to know that this is their insecurity and not mine, so I did not cave in the slightest. Quite the opposite actually; I stopped drinking entirely. Since February, I have not drunk alcohol once, even sips of my parents' wine. And this is because I thought that it sounds much more impressive to say "I don't drink" than "I will only drink one". And indeed, many people seemed to be impressed by this. Obviously, I've also had a LOT of negative attitudes towards this, because most teenagers are idiots. I'm not going to lie though, I found it hard. Hard to hear people being so horrible to me and hard not to drink alcohol when I would usually be having my own small glass of wine or beer. But I stuck it out because I wanted to impress.
However, this evening, my mum said something to me that made me change my mind on all this. I told her that I missed alcohol and she asked me why I stopped drinking it. And I said "Because I need to set an example to my friends." And she replied "But you can set an example by having one and saying no to a second." Which is very, very true.
So I am no longer depriving myself of a drink I enjoy; it's like not drinking apple juice if you like apple juice. You don't drink it to get drunk, you drink it to enjoy the taste. Which is my attitude to alcohol. I feel much happier knowing now that at the next party I can have a beer with everyone. But when it comes to round two, I'll have had my glass of "apple juice" and that will be fine until next time.