Underage Drinking

[xDUMPTRUCKx]

I followed the straight edge lifestyle for a while, up until sophomore year of college. I can't say I ever was straight edge though, I know how the saying goes. "if you aren't now, you never were" or something along those lines.

However, I started drinking, and it really did make me happier. Mainly because I actually made friends at school. I was one of those hardcore kids that hated everyone that drank too. I really can say drinking changed my life for the better as I was socially awkward before, and from drinking I became less awkward, and that less awkwardness travelled to my normal life. I just make it a point to moderate my drinking. All it takes is being smart about it, which unfortunately many people do not do. _nicko_

i dont know man, that to me just shows me how sad young americans are. in no way do i intend to offend you, but its pretty sad when in order for a kid to "fit in" and be accepted that he has to drink, i have heard many a people use your same situation though about how drinking makes them more sociable.

 

[drifting_home]

not only did I not drink before 21, but I am 24 now and still never had so much as a drop, and ya know, I don't feel the lack

 

[kubtastic]

The total amount of alchohol I drank underage I now drink about every weekend.

 

[Jeepsterboy101]

i dont know man, that to me just shows me how sad young americans are. in no way do i intend to offend you, but its pretty sad when in order for a kid to "fit in" and be accepted that he has to drink, i have heard many a people use your same situation though about how drinking makes them more sociable.

That's how a couple of my friends started drinking. And I agree with you, its pretty sad and lame IMO. What can ya do though....

 

[BOB]

so many interesting comments. IMO alcohol is there to be abused. we all know it. Few people can handle drinking without it affecting there life somehow. When I quit drinking, at age 28, I was in limbo. I only had friends who drank. I could not hang with them, without being tempted to drink. Do you think for a minute they would stop you from drinking. I don't think so. I didn't know any friends who did not drink. It was a hell of a transition. Life has been a lot less complicated. I think it is good for people to talk about these issues. there is not a right answer. we all just do the best we can, with the knowledge we have, on any given day.

...BOB

 

[gearwhine]

You can think what you want, I'm not offended by it at all. I had the feeling I was better than people that drank before because I didn't drink. I know exactly where you're coming. I know I didn't admit it then, but now I do admit I thought I was of a higher level than others. I now know I was wrong and stupid.

I can say I already "fit in" before I drank, but I, myself, felt much more comfortable, and that's what I liked. I have never ever had a problem in my life due to drinking. I have fun with my life wether I'm drinking or not, do very well at a top school, and not going to say I wish I didn't drink.

Maybe in a few years I won't drink, maybe I will, "Cause after college, drinking is called alcoholism." I won't lie, I have fun with it, I feel I control myself very well with it, and am not embarassed about it at all.

I love how the only people posting now are people that don't drink, and making it out to be a huge evil in the world. Where are all you drunks from the events???


Stick to being straight edge though. Every striaght edge person I know gave it up, some early, some as late as 28.

_nicko_

 

[xDUMPTRUCKx]

I love how the only people posting now are people that don't drink, and making it out to be a huge evil in the world. Where are all you drunks from the events???


Stick to being straight edge though. Every striaght edge person I know gave it up, some early, some as late as 28.

_nicko_

drinkings good for you in your eyes, thats cool. hey if its a positive thing to you thats all that matters, to me its not a positve thing for ME, and I would only encourage others to do the same as I do. I won't disagree with you as far as me feeling better than other people who drink, I definetly come off that way because all ive known and come to see is drinking as a negative thing, and in my eyes no man is better than another in most cases, everyone has the oppurtunity to do the same and be the same as everyone else.
As far as being straight edge, i dont see it fading from me anytime soon, ive gone through some of the most agonizing times lately that would turn anyone to drink/drugs/etc but my hearts still the same.

 

[xDUMPTRUCKx]

there is not a right answer. we all just do the best we can, with the knowledge we have, on any given day.

...BOB

well said bob, agreed.

 

[Sarge]

I started drinking while underage. In fact first time I ever got carded was on the birthday I became legal. Alcohol is NOT evil, it's just a substance. The evil is in the person who shows a lack of control. I've been to the point of not being able to function without it but looked at myself and didn't like it. Took two years off and now drink again but never to just get wasted.

As for changing the drinking age to 26, that's not going to help. It merely makes it more of an incentive to figure out how to drink early. Look to Europe where there aren't any social stigma like ours here. Kids are given a drink at meals from an early age. The alcoholism rate is much lower. When are Americans going to learn that to make something illegal raises the desire to have or do it?

*grin* The other thing about stopping for a couple of years? Now I only drink good stuff. Single barrel or small batch bourbons mostly. Altho some _good_ tequila (NOT Cuervo) is always appreciated as well.

Sarge

 

[XJ Dreamin']

My Dad had a few Falstaffs every night and pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday: not that I ever saw him in a condition that I ever recognized as "drunk." Even if I were curious about alchohol, there was absolutely no way that I was going to try to sneak any of his beer. Our house was out in the middle of a corn field and the nearest store was 30 minutes away and the owner had known me since my birth. There were no buddies down the street to party with and no neighborhood gang - there was no neighborhood. By the time I started driving I simply could never figure out how to get away with drinking and my folks not finding out. By the time I was 16 or 17 my Dad started telling stories of him getting drunk on gin, but there wasn't any gin around and I never saw him drink anything but Falstaff, or "fall-flat" as he used to call it.

Dispite the amount that my Dad consumed all of those years, he quite the day he retired. I didn't even know he'd quit. I was in college by then, home for a visit, when I commented to my Mom about there being no beer in the fridge. I wasn't looking for beer for myself. I doubt that even today I would drink in front of my Mom. It was just such a strange thing to open the fridge and not see beer in there, but she said he had not bought any beer since the day he retired. So much for the stresses of the modern business world.

One thing that has stuck with me to this day. Dad was (still is) a private pilot. He was co-owner, with four other pilots, of a North American Navion. One day when I was home from college he says he has to go out to the airport and check on a hydraulic leak repair. We went out there and the repair checked out ok so he says do I want to go flying for a couple of hours. I said cool and we were starting the pre-flight when he says no he can't go flying because he'd had a beer that morning. That was probably 8 hours since the one beer but he would not go up if he had had any beer in the previous 24 hours.

So, what about me? I got to college and started looking for something to get drunk on. Why? Who knows. It was college. Got drunk first time on dorm party coolers. They had atomic collins and Guiana punch that night. I did the atomic collins - everclear and lemonade concentrate (the Guiana punch was everclear and grape juice concentrate). After that, at department parties I'd bring a pint of gin or work out of the hosts' liquor cabinet. I'd clean up their dregs: if they had a finger or two of scotch left in a bottle - dump it over rocks. Scotch, (good) gin, rum, burbon, but never vodka and never anything fruit flavored. I didn't like beer at the time but later discovered that I'd been trying to drink the wrong kind of beer.

Finally turned legal and my 21st birthday celebration put me right off of whiskey. Closest I can figure is at least 30 shots from 9pm to 1am. I have no recollection of how we got home (my buddy's girlfriend had taken our keys so we had walked to the bars and must have walked home, but the memory simply does not exist). About 3:30am I started throwing up. I threw up every 30 to 60 minutes for 21 hours straight. After the first dry heave I started drinking water so there would be something to throw up.

Last drunk was in Elko, NV in 1989. Sat down at a $2 blackjack table and started drinking free gin. I sat post, holding on 12 and drinking gin. I broke even on the night (plus the free gin) when I threw down my hole card: "21," I says. "That's 22, sir," says the dealer. "Well," says I, "I guess I'd better leave, then." I gave him a tip and started walking the thirty blocks back to where I was staying. In that 30 blocks I got propositioned 10 times. Those chicks could spot a drunk comin' a mile away! Made home with all of my cash though.

Since college there just haven't been the opportunities to drink (except for that casino in Elko). I never drank in my dorm room or apartment and I've got beer in the fridge today that is left over from a picnic 6 months ago. I just don't drink away from a party, and then I've never gotten drunk where I've had to drive home - only where I could crash or walk home. Not to be righteous: that's just that parental conditioning kicking in.

Alcohol is NOT evil, it's just a substance. The evil is in the person who shows a lack of control.

Setting "evil" aside: alcohol is an addictive substance, as is nicotine and a slew of others, some controlled and some legal. I have drunk alot but outside specific social settings I feel no urge to drink. OTOH..I started smoking at about 12 by stealing my Grandfathers cigar butts and fear of being caught had no impact. If I had a pack of cigarettes I was going to smoke until I ran out. I didn't quit until I was 40 and that took divine intervention. My point? Some of us can be addicted by a chemical process that has nothing to do with evil. Some drink, or smoke, for purely social or personal reasons. For some, self control is not possible. I didn't quit smoking on my own. I had help: help that continues to protect me to this day. I am glad that I was not predisposed to alcoholism. I drank for social reasons and when I left that particular social environment I quit. For some it's not that easy.

Oh, yeah - my vote: yes

 

[Citat3962]

Stick to being straight edge though. Every striaght edge person I know gave it up, some early, some as late as 28.

_nicko_

Yup... In the Local Punk scene in the late 90's I met alot of self important SXEs with the attitude that they had evolved or something...

of the 3 I was close with two are now heavy alchoholics (1 Married and other a car accident) and the other plain disappeared.. I on the other hand have drank regularly along with other recreational use since BEFORE high school and I hold a good paying job and am doing quite well for myself...

It's all down to how well you handle yourself when inhebriated.. Some people flip the hell out after a year or two of hard drinking..... some people trip acid and drink like a fish off and on while smoking weed everyday for the last 11 years and manage to hold good jobs and be none the worse... Shit, better off than anyone from my group of friends finacially and oppertunity wise..

Not many people fly the XX's with pride anymore.. and sad to say it the only ones you meet anymore are the ones with a huge chip on their shoulder...

Some of my favorite guys to attack the pit with were big stinky SXE punks...

that scene is dead now so it's more of an ideal thing that a clique...

BTW Minor Threat SUCKS!!! :gag: lol

 

[xDUMPTRUCKx]

Yup... In the Local Punk scene in the late 90's I met alot of self important SXEs with the attitude that they had evolved or something...

Not many people fly the XX's with pride anymore.. and sad to say it the only ones you meet anymore are the ones with a huge chip on their shoulder...

Some of my favorite guys to attack the pit with were big stinky SXE punks...

that scene is dead now so it's more of an ideal thing that a clique...

BTW Minor Threat SUCKS!!! :gag: lol

now its all about the straight edge hardcore scene, and theres many of us. Sucks but alot of kids ruin it for everyone else, "mililtant" straight edge kids suck, they stick out the most so everyone sees them.

Heck there was a whole 20/20 episode about militant salt lake city kids. and ya alot of straight edge kids will come off with a holier than thou sort attitude, and that sucks, and if thats me well i apologize.

But for the most part some of the best kids youll ever meet are straight edge kids, come to redlands california, about an hour outside of L.A, these kids are amazing ages 18-32 so its not just a bunch of youngins, but ya i think if there was a 20/20 episode about us guys, people would have different things to say about straight edge kids.

oh ya and i never got into minor threat, and personally i thought that straight edge song sucked.

 

[biscuitboy87]

I think you're going to find a very low legal compliance level. Partly because of the demographic you are polling, and also partly because underage drinking is in many ways a rite of passage for modern youth. Working in high schools and with youth I see a great deal of kids posturing about their 'escapades' but also quite a few who have participated in drinking or drugs, even as young as 12 or 13. I would guess that those who are raised religiously will be less likely to have done it, parents being teetotalers will also decrease the likelihood. My parents drank quite frequently, but it was rare to see them drunk. They still enjoy wine with dinner a couple of times per week. Myself on the other hand, I first drank a beer when I was 10. First got tipsy when I was about 14. First got falling down drunk with projectile vomit when I was 16. I crawled the two blocks home from my buddy's house and went downstairs to interrupt my parents' movie and give them crap for not educating me on how horrible it is to be totally wasted. I had been loaded dozens of times by the time I became legal, which is 18 where I grew up. And by the time I was 19, I was a full-blown alcoholic, getting loaded about six times per week. By the time I was 23, I slowed right down, and quit by 24. Now I only drink on occasion, and prefer Hoegaarden, thank you very much. A nice bourbon on a single rock also hits the spot a couple of times per year.

ditto.

 

[Zebaru]

When are Americans going to learn that to make something illegal raises the desire to have or do it?Sarge

I know I am not the only one who doesn't break laws simply because I would be breaking the law if I did. Of course not in all cases, but I know for a fact that there are several places I stop only because there is a stop sign, and go 25 mph only because that is the speed limit. Honestly, how many times have any of us been at a red light, and were the only one at the intersection (or at least no cross traffic), and waited for the green? If the aswer is more than zero, ask yourself this: "What kept me from going through?" (Hint: it probably has something to do with the law...)

Simple examples I know, but the general idea is that it is about more than whether something is illegal or not. It is something about our society, regardless of laws, that drives us to do certain things. I have no idea what it is, but I don't subscribe to the "legalize it and our problems go away"
school of thought...

On a somewhat related note, I also beleive that, to some degree, it isn't just about illegal, it is about expected penalty vs reward. In those areas that install red light cameras, the number of red light infractions drops. The expectation of a fine has lowered people's desire to break the law - but the law didn't change... and the 'benefit' from running the light didn't go down.

Travis

 

[fugoffclothing]

if you dont want to drink, dont do it, if you want to drink, then hell have a beer..............thats all it should be, no preachin no bitchin, either your into it or not. I drink and have straight edge friends, they dont bother me sayin oh you shouldn't drink , and i dont bother them and say come on man have a beer, everything is cool....................i guess i'm just rambling on, ok i'm done.

 

[gearwhine]

if you dont want to drink, dont do it, if you want to drink, then hell have a beer..............thats all it should be, no preachin no bitchin, either your into it or not. I drink and have straight edge friends, they dont bother me sayin oh you shouldn't drink , and i dont bother them and say come on man have a beer, everything is cool....................i guess i'm just rambling on, ok i'm done.

It's definitely something to talk about. Everything should be talked about. If you don't want to talk about it, then don't...same deal you're saying about drinking, do it or don't, whatever.

Drinking is definitely a major topic of discussion, and is a problem for millions of people, non dependent on age. So don't bitch about people btiching about it.

_nicko_

 

[biscuitboy87]

moderation is the key. education is the lock. if one knows the drawbacks, the benefits, and possible eventual outcome from being well informed the decision is easy.
parents are the gate keepers, and if the parents aren't keeping the gate then the opportunity is there.
when i was in jr high we "tapped shoulder" and there were adults who would buy up for us. i had no idea that alcohol drowned the limbic part of the brain (which is responsible for breathing among other things).
the legal age limit is in place because not all parents are...well...parents. the fact is if you drink before the age of 21 you are doing irreversable damamge to your brain. now will one drink do the damage? not noticably. will 2 drinks? probably not but damage is being done. if you have a predisposition to addiction, then the odds are you will get hooked. alcohol will start to invade you entire system. if your intake is alot (who knows how much really because everybody is different) then the alcohol starts to replace water in your blood cells. since we are designed to be mostly water this replacement seriously frigs up your body. eventually if you are a big enough alcoholic quitting is not an option and if you try to quit you will die. alcohol is addictive. if you can party with it once a year you're probably okay. if you drink every day you're heading down a road that may kill you. drinking while pregnant is bad...i'm sure you heard that before right? its because of something called fetal acohol syndrome. once you've seen an FAS kid you've seen em all. so think about what the alcohol did to that fetus. now thing about what its doing to you.
i'm not preaching here becuase what i'm saying is fact.
now if its just a case of legal vs. illegal. one drink is fine...just like one joint is fine. seriously, people die from alcohol poisoning often...but nobody has ever died from smoking too much weed. so if legality is the case then drinking underage should be a very serious crime in comparison.
society says its okay to drink. most people do. and historically getting drunk as a teen has been a rite of passage...a sign on growing up. what hasn't caught up with the trend today is the education and sitting down with primary age children and letting them know the science instead of the history. scientifically a humans brain isnt done "growing" until aruond 21. any substance effecting the brain will change its chemistry, and usually in a negative way... whether its LSD, weed, alcohol, and even sugar.

in closing, education is one of the best ways to curb underage brain damage...i mean underage drinking. lol.

 

[fugoffclothing]

holy shit, after reading all that i need a beer ..........anyone else............cheers............

 

[Roll-over]

stole my first beer from the fridge at 10... didn't have another 'til I was 17. I went crazy for a year or two when i turned legal. Now I have one or two drinks a week.

 

[8Mud]

Some people can and some people can´t and the only way to know for sure, is to make regular drinking a habit and then find out one day your dependant. Russian roulette.
I admire the straight kids, takes character to not go with the peer pressures. About a million things you can do with your free time and drinking is just one of them. One of those things it takes absolutly no talent to accomplish.
Most places the legal driving age is 16, the voting age is 18, you can join the Armed forces and carry a loaded weapon, go to war and are asked to make life and death decissions, before your deemed competant to decide if you want to drink. Many states the legal age to drink is 21, does this tell you anything. Drinking is (for many people) considered, by people wiser than me, more risky than many of the above.
I´m not trying to preach holier than thou, just preaching, if your gonna drink, have your eyes wide open. If you even think you are one of the many, that become rapidly dependant, get smart and leave it alone.
I try and not be a fanatic about anything (with a few exceptions), but strive to use what good judgement, I´ve been blessed with and minimize self destructive behavior.
A few rules for my kids, that are non negotiable, guaranteed ass beating (I men a serious thumping). Drivng while or with a drunk. Drugs of any flavor. Unprotected sex and messing with my guns. And a couple of others when they were young, hanging out of an upstairs window, playing with fire and going into the street without looking first. Most everything else is negotiable. The kids, my kids (young adults now) hang out with, get the same speech and are advised, I´ll try my darndest to beat there asses also if they ignore my rules.
I figure if they are gonna seriously screw up, it´s gonna be something new and original. Not the same dumb assed mistakes I made and many of the other youngsters made, when I was growing up.