146. Alcohol

Alcohol is losing its luster with me. I enjoy beer and other adult beverages, but the diminishing marginal returns are setting in earlier. If I don’t crack open a beer until 8 p.m., my limit is two beers. Three beers just wakes me up in the middle of the night and I definitely regret even more after the first cup of coffee the next morning.

Last night I had a few too many glasses of wine at home while I was watching a movie. I woke up at about 1:30 a.m. and then did not fall back asleep until about 4:30 a.m. Losing that much sleep is just not worth it for me anymore. Eight hours of sleep is premo for me.

There are a group of guys (I think?) who live below me. They seem to enjoy their substances (both legal and illegal) quite often. They can enjoy themselves however they want (if they keep it to themselves). However, it seems like they do it too hard. The other night one guy (or at least I’m assuming it was one guy) puked outside about four different times after midnight after a night of partying. Maybe I don’t have the whole story, but that just seems like a miserable way to spend a weeknight.

I’m not trying to sound like a teetotler here. I’m just trying to evaluate what my relationship to alcohol should be. While I enjoy imbibing, I’ve begun to dislike the effects of drinking even more than drinking itself.

However, drinking on a patio is probably my favorite part of summer. It’s just nice to be outside in the sun with a relaxing beverage.

I’m also paranoid about going anywhere a car if I’m planning to have a drink. My dad gave me plenty of warnings about this throughout the course of my youth and it had an effect on me. It makes me so sad that this is still an issue in our country. Maybe some people have a handle on it, but I wish more people would be mature enough to know when to say no.

A few months ago, I went to a party that a friend hosted. Another person I knew was coming, but he was going out for a work happy hour. I don’t know anything about the company culture where this person works. I don’t know the person all that well either. I do know that it felt really weird that he had to sit in his car for 45 minutes to make sure the buzz came off. That was the smart move. It feels weird that he even had to make that decision though. At 28, I feel like you shouldn’t need to be judged for your relationship with alcohol. If you’ve figured out how to have fun without it, you’ll probably be ok.

I think the thing we forget about is the health aspects of drinking. I’ve noticed a (slight) gut, probably from the beer. My metabolism isn’t what it used to be and the extra few hundred calories from a couple beers probably aren’t helping out anything.

I still enjoy beers, but I might start saying “no thanks” more often.