First you take a drink and then the drink takes you.

The other night, a friend of mine bought a fake ID. I took one look at it and said, "you'll never get away with it." We were having dinner and our waiter brought me another glass of water. My friend held out the ID to him and said, "What do you think?"

He said, "I think you could pull it off. Just tell them you lost twenty pounds." Then he asked me if I had one. When I told him no, he seemed surprised and asked me, "So why don't you drink?"

I told him I think it's strange that in a culture where people pay money to lose their inhibitions and forget themselves night by night, someone who doesn't drink is perceived as strange.

From what I've noticed...
Some of my friends drink because they like to start their stories with, "So last night I got SO drunk and...".
Some of my friends drink because they don't know what to do with a night they'll be able to remember.
A lot of my friends drink because that's how their other friends want to spend time and they're too lacking in confidence to say, "You know what? Let's just go bowling."

Fine. I don't care about who drinks and doesn't drink and how someone is going to spend his or her free time. It's not like I won't respect someone just because they choose to knock a few back on the weekends. But be responsible and do it for the right reasons because what I don't respect is insincerity.

What I don't respect is someone who has to have a few drinks just to look a stranger in the eye. Just to feel comfortable having a deep conversation. Just to be honest with others-- and themselves. Just to have the confidence to dance and laugh.

What I don't respect is someone who uses incoherence or alcoholism as an excuse to do stupid, shitty things.

i.e. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that. I was drunk."
i.e. "I didn't mean to sleep with him. I was drunk."

I don't respect people who use alcohol as a coping mechanism. Who use kegs to forget their problems and martinis to do things without consequences, at least for the night. It's sad that a lot of very intelligent, beautiful people walk into clubs and bars and stumble out at two a.m. with someone they barely know.

I don't respect putting your money in a glass and drinking it in order to feel something other than sadness.

I understand some people are incapable of expressing their feelings.
I understand my character is stronger and I make better decisions. That unhealthy habits are reflections of an unsteady will and a lack of true expression and honesty.

I think all addicts are weak. I think weekend alcoholics are sad and lacking in character. And that's why I will never respect them.

I know some people need to escape. Emotions are horrifying. Memories can be overwhelming. The urge to hide yourself is instinctive.

It's the giving in part that I can't comphrenend.