I have an alcohol problem. No, I am not an alcoholic. I can go months without even thinking of getting a drink and the bar is just a place I pass on my way to work. No, my problem is with alcohol itself, or to be more precise, with society’s fondness for it.

Now before you get all up in arms, let me preface this all by saying that I am not attacking anyone for having a drink. I still drink on occasion myself and have gotten drunk more than a few times. But I am curious in the way that society has become saturated with alcohol.

Alcohol companies have glorified alcohol. Beautiful models, wearing minimal amounts of clothing, drink on the beach in an attempt to make you believe you can be that sexy, too, if only you buy this particular brand of alcohol. Commercials make it out to be the cure-all to whatever ails you:

Want to have some fun? Have a drink

The big game is on this weekend? Stock up on some 30 racks

Need to have a relaxing night at home? Here’s the perfect bottle of wine

Rough day at work? Here’s a chill bar to have some shots

In-laws are coming over? Better buy a handle

Going to the beach? Don’t forget your cooler of drinks

Bonfire? Drinks

Sunday backyard BBQ? Drinks

You get the picture. And I have done most of those, so I hate to sound like a hypocrite, but it does not make it any less true. Alcohol has been pushed on us for seemingly every occasion and we as a society accepted it without question. Much of society (not including actual alcoholics, as that is a disease) has become alcohol dependent. Alcohol is used when things get tough to ‘take the edge off’ or to ‘drown our sorrows’. It is used as ‘liquid courage’ to approach that pretty girl at the bar. It is used to have fun and celebrate.

But I ask you all, since when has it become our crutch? Why do we feel the need to incorporate alcohol into most of our social gatherings? Why is compromising our mental facilities the fun thing to do? Have we really been fooled into thinking that we need alcohol to have fun or to survive a stressful day to make it to the next day?

And on the flip side of that, not only has society been fooled into thinking alcohol is needed, but society now subconsciously, and sometimes consciously, shuns and looks down on non-drinkers. Yes, there is a negative stigma attached to non-drinkers. I wish I was making that up. Have you ever asked someone you were hanging with “why aren’t you drinking?” or decided not to invite someone to hang out cause they do not drink? Then you have fed into the negative stigma. And it is crazy to believe that anyone would have an issue with someone not drinking because them not drinking has no factor on your own life, yet some people do act like it is an affront to them. People act like a friend cannot hang with them at the bar and drink water. Drinking alcohol should not be a prerequisite for sharing your company with someone.

My non-drinking friends, some that have never drunk, some that have quit drinking recently, and some that have decided to be more thoughtful about when and how much they drink, have confirmed this all with me (plus my own experiences as well). They have faced social pressure to drink, received shocked reactions with questions like “Never? Like NEVER? Why?”, and been treated like they think they are better than drinkers. Which is crazy because there are plenty of reasons why people don’t drink. Allergic, no taste for it, had a bad experience, etc.

But why should a person have to defend why they do not drink? Why is it that important to society that people have to have a reason to be sober? This is why to me, it is such an issue. Alcohol has become so ingrained in society that we do not even question the copious amounts of alcohol we drink. It seems natural and instinctive to have a drink with dinner or at the beach or basically anytime we hang out with friends or family.

BUT WHY? When did sharing a drink with someone become more important than sharing our time, our thoughts, our feelings, our goals? Does it add to our conversation or get in the way of it? What happiness does alcohol bring to our lives? How does it enrich us? How does it help us reach fulfillment?

Again, I feel like a hypocrite because I know I will have a drink again at some point. But I am not trying to diss alcohol. I merely want to question the importance we place on it and the high esteem in which we hold it in. I do not think it is some big evil or all bad (and I am not going to get into how people do die from drinking or hurt others), but at the same time, I would like everyone reading this to think about why they drink. Perhaps your relationships with others could be improved by reducing the amount you drink. Or your life in general. At the very least, maybe I have opened your eyes to how flooded society is with alcohol and maybe you have some thoughts of your own on the matter.

That is all for now. Hope you all enjoyed my word vomit. Any questions or comments, drop them below.

 

The lyrics for this post’s title came from Childish Gambino’s The Last