Jaybeee
Posts: 532
Joined: 2/2/2010 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Sunnyfey I have a feeling quite a bit of Americas attitude towards alcohol has been... skewed by our college cultures of frat parties and 21st birthday 21 shot rituals. We as Americans just don't foster an attitude towards alcohol that is...constructive? Towards dealing with things like weed or alcohol. Or media bombards us with things like "Dont drink and drive, or everyone you love will die" and then movies like (one of the) American pie when they sneak a bottle of tequila into a slushy machine and the girls get drunk and end up sleeping with/making out with the boys.(the whole plot of the movie). I think each of our nations has elements that are too extremist, just at opposing sides. I see a lot of antagonism towards regular (but steady) drinkers in america, whereas here teetotallers are sometimes viewed with the same disbelief normally reserved for vegetarians. There is an ingrained drinking culture here, and in many workplaces you are regarded as something of an oddball for consistently refusing to come to the pub on Friday evenings. Personally I do enjoy a good drink-up, and I've been known to polish off an entire bottle of wine with a meal, plus digestifs afterwards. What irks me most, though, is that antagonism towards anyone who doesn't think like you do. I lived a childhood of enforced vegetarianism, and it fucking hurt, but as an adult I don't belittle those who practice it. If I'm having vegetarians over for dinner, then they get a veggie meal (and my spectacularly entertaining company), but I reserve the right to eat meat at my table with them, and whether I exercise it will depend on how I feel at the time. And if the issue is raised by them, I'll let them know what a sore point it was (and to a lesser degree still is) with me, smile, and change the topic smartly. Mine is a welcoming house, my guests (whatever their dietary or other constraints) invariably feel cosy and cared for, and that's how it should be. What I DON'T do is put up some silly show of anti-whatever. To me, that is a sign of an immature mind that clings to baggage like a child clings to a doll.
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Mastery in motion since 2005 Women of the world, submit!
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