Haven't read all these alcohol posts yet but alcohol has played a big part in my life so here's my two cents worth.
I come from an alcoholic family but I myself never had a problem with alcohol. My cousin (a lady) worked for Budweiser (actually made the beer) until she retired and we often discuss our very funny but mostly inebriated family and their antics over the holidays. And we often wonder exactly why we both never had a drinking problem ourselves.
She claims that alcolholism skips generations ..... meaning that sons and daughters of alcoholics will not become alcoholics but their grandkids (whether male or female) will.
That may or may not be true but I think the reason why I never had a drinking problem is due to the fact that my folks often asked me to join them with a cocktail just about the time I turned 14. My dad told me that I'd start drinking sooner or later anyway and he'd appreciate it if I'd confine my drinking to the home and avoid drinking outside of the family environment. At least until I turned 18.
So I got introduced to mild alcoholic cocktails consisting of Four Roses bourbon and 7-Up and never really did like the taste too much.
A few years later when all my under aged friends started drinking, it was a big thing for them but it actually meant nothing to me so I'd simply sit in and join then with a couple cans of beer (joints wern't even thought of back then).
On a few occasions I'd sit in with my uncle and his movie star friends and have a few very strong Tom Collins and end up puking in the back yard. Gin and me never hit it off.
While in Corps I favored Scotch but only the first two Scotch and Sodas and then I'd had my fill and switched to water or just plain old 7-Up. Got poisoned while in some Vietnamese bars and puked my guts out for a couple of days before someone carried me off to sick-bay to pump me out.
That seemed to cure me even of the little drinking I ever did and today I might have an occasional martini before a good meal or a Bloody Mary if I'm playing poker or a extra strong Margarita if I want to stay absolutely sober. No one understands it but Tequila has no affect on me whatsoever. I don't even get close to going momentarily blind.
I think I avoided alcoholism because I could have a drink way before a young kid's typical drinking age. It was never a big thing for me to have a drink and get stupid cause I could get stupid without having anything to drink anyway.
So while my underaged friends were being stupid drinking Kamakazees or burning their mouths with some kind of drink that you had to light on fire, I just sat there like a somewhat less stupid fool enjoying a beer or a plain old glass of water and stealing car keys when anyone fell over and hit the deck.
I also enjoyed stealing stuff from the San Francisco 48'ers when they least expected it and hefting an occasional fire hydrant from some fog-bound corner in the city, but I hated carrying my friends up to their front doors while their ired parents would give me hell for getting their wonderful son inebriated. At the age of 15 - 16 it's difficult to defend yourself under those conditions, so I'd just stand there like a sober fool and take their rants and raves while their cherubic son puked on my tennis shoes.
But on one great occasion I did get totally inebriated for some dumb reason and stold some ducks who were making a personal appearence at some night club opening (HONEST) (it was a setup) and sat them in the back of my old Ford and shot the hills of San Francisco just like Steve McQueen or some long gone big time star did in that movie. I had a hell of a blast hiding from the SF Police Department while listening to all my antics on some radio show who was paid to follow this missing duck episode...... but those damn ducks shit all over my back seat.
I also gotta admit that I did the same thing sober and without those ducks just a month or so ago and ..... it's still a kick in the ass and always enjoyed by passengers in the suicide seat.(We stap the kids in the back seat where the ducks used to go.)
It's gotten to be kind of like a family tradition and a big thrill for young and old when it's done safely enough and without a pack of sqwaking ducks shitting all over in the back. The kids don't do that. They just laugh and ask to do it again.
Thanks for the memories! Time for a beer if I can find one. I don't think they make Four Roses bourbon anymore.
