Thinking bout when I was drinking

[Bigwolf]

The Conversation on another post got me to thinking about the drinking and partying I did in my early 20s.  Back then, a friend and I would start drinking screwdrivers right after supper, 5:30 or 6 in the evening.  We would have 3 or 4 while waiting for the local dance bars to open.  When they opened at 8, we would go to one of them and drink beer and hustle the college girls till the place closed around midnight.  From there we would go to a club and drink mixed drinks af some concoction till that club closed and then hit another club till about 3 am.  From there we always went to an all night hot dog stand for something to eat. I never ordered less than 3 hot dogs with chili and onions, a large side of French fries, and a large milk shake.  I never got even a little sick and I seldom felt more than a very slight buzz.

Fast forward to today,......... almost but not quite a 50 year jump.  I get buzzed by the end of the second 12 oz beer and just thinking of drinking like I did in my 20s and then eating immediately on top of it causes my stomach to quiver.  If I tried that now, they would have me in the hospital for at least a month trying to make my body like me well enough to not just die on me.  Yes, I am out of the habit of drinking a lot and often but I am pretty certain there is no way I could increase my tolerance to a level anywhere near what it was back when I was in my early 20s.

Sometimes I miss the macho presence I could project while downing a full share of those potent adult beverages,.............but most of the time...........almost all of the time now, I am quite content to have just a couple of light beers before switching to water for the rest of the evening.  This is not to imply that I am gonna turn down a shot of white lightning.  High quality Mountain Dew is a thing of beauty.

Just thinking out loud here.

Bigwolf

[Ken aka Oil Burner]

I'm 45 now, but still remember (mostly, anyway  ) my late teens and twenties. The amount of alcohol I could drink is staggering to think about (no pun intended). Now, I rarely even have one drink. But, not unlike your story, we used to "prime the pump", as we used to say. That was the drinking that came before the real drinking. The evening mission always involved trying to not go home alone. When that didn't work, we'd hit the local diner that was open until 4 AM. I don't know if the food really was fantastic, or I was just too messed up and hungry to not think so, but I remember the place fondly.

If I lived one night these days like I did nearly every night then, I might die. I wish I was kidding.

[The emperor has no clothes]

I've done more drinking in my life than I had a right to. I'm ashamed to admit when I was young, I would drink and drive. I thank God I never hurt anybody.

[Bigwolf]

I thought there would be some that could relate to my thoughts.

I'm 45 now, but still remember (mostly, anyway  ) my late teens and twenties. The amount of alcohol I could drink is staggering to think about (no pun intended). Now, I rarely even have one drink. But, not unlike your story, we used to "prime the pump", as we used to say. That was the drinking that came before the real drinking. The evening mission always involved trying to not go home alone. When that didn't work, we'd hit the local diner that was open until 4 AM. I don't know if the food really was fantastic, or I was just too messed up and hungry to not think so, but I remember the place fondly.

If I lived one night these days like I did nearly every night then, I might die. I wish I was kidding.

I hear you Oilburner!  I am pretty sure I would not survive.

Bigwolf

I've done more drinking in my life than I had a right to. I'm ashamed to admit when I was young, I would drink and drive. I thank God I never hurt anybody.

Rob,
We always drove!  There were two times that I felt too inebriated to drive while around town, and I made it to where friends could take me the rest of the way home and they did.  Once, leaving a private party way out in the country, I drove just half mile before deciding to pull over and sleep it off.  Once, I was at a private party ....... putting the hustle on a sweet young thing when another guy wanted me out of the way and spiked my drink........I could not even find my car that time.  Friends took me home..........never again have I drank from a container that has not remained in my constant vigil once opened.  There was not much traffic in the middle of the night back in those days but yes, I am very thankful that nobody got hurt because of my drinking and driving.

Bigwolf

[DirtyDan]

+1 on Mountain Dew

So glad I did it while I could

Dan

[Jess from VA]

I have close to the same experience you did.  I drank heavily in college (mostly beer, but everything else too, and Boonesfarm apple wine), except I got all my work done before ever going out.  Still, my first two years, three different bars had cheap pitcher nights (school-day nights, not weekends), and I made more of those than I missed.  And I was always the guy with the car and drove 90% of the time.  One fine football weekend, five of us went to a historical popular tavern in Ann Arbor, and set a new record of 35 pitchers of beer.  Then, we all piled in my van and I took everyone home, all over the place.  I never had a DUI, or an accident, but I deserved to have enough DUIs to put me away for life.  Of course, back in those days a DUI wasn't good, but it wasn't a hanging offense like today either.

I was always a go-fast driver, and the big joke with my drinking buddies was that the only time Jess obeyed the speed limits (and ALL the other rules) was after he was drinking.

I was not big on going out for breakfast late after a night of drinking.  I was too full, and it ruined the buzz.  But I always chugged down one or two tall glasses of water before going to bed.  I was going to have to get up to pee anyway, and it really helped with the mornings.  And for most of those times, added two Tylenol.... until years later I read Tylenol and alcohol don't mix and are bad for you (who knew?).

Law school was much harder than undergrad, and I had a wife by then, so that lifestyle got curtailed greatly.  And the Air Force took a (lethally) dim view of DUI, though I did a lot of beer drinking in the clubs, and walked home.  

Today, I have most of a 12 pack in my fridge from three years ago, and the only few beers I had all year were at Roanoke (some with you, I think).  I too am buzzed up after 2-3 beers now, and I cannot handle the hangovers anymore.  And I live alone, and drinking is a social thing, and I will not drink and drive at all anymore (so bars are out), though I may have a (one) shot at lunch if riding on a really cold day.

Those were the days my friend, I thought they'd never end.   (but they did)

[DIGGER]

I guess we nearly all had our drinking days when we were young and wild.   One of my funniest to me drunk stories was not about me but about my brother.   He was single and loved to dance and he drank moderately seldom seeing him drunk.   However one time his buds brought him home drunk drunk.  My mom and I sat up with him semi concious and throwing up most of the night.   Next evening late as he was recovering enough to talk about it he said " the last thing I rememmbered I was having a great time at the club dancing and dancing and dancing.....at least I thought I was dancing.....then somebody stepped on my hand."

[Davemn]

It takes me all night to do what I used to do all night.

[pais]

  Funny, wife and I talking about this very subject recently. So very grateful to not have hurt anyone in my early days.

I've done more drinking in my life than I had a right to. I'm ashamed to admit when I was young, I would drink and drive. I thank God I never hurt anybody.

  Yesterday wife and I went to lunch at a brew pub in Akron, Ohio "Lock 15 Brewery". Lifelong friend's daughter and hubby are the owners. Been enjoying his craft brews for years. Now he's making a living at it or at least trying. I drank 2 beers at 2 in the afternoon and felt like sh^t the rest of the day. As Jess said, don't care for the hangover the next day. 2 is my limit and those 2 are almost always enjoyed at home. I like to try some of the various craft brews that appeal to my palate.
   I have a CDL and need it for my job. Those 2 beers both exceeded 7%. I have to guess I would have been at the .08 on the breathalyzer. 1 DUI and I am out of a job. This is 1 of many reasons I will not drink and drive.

[0leman]

Back in my college days (during the VN war), I had a friend that thought he had failed a big math test.  Failure meant that his grades would not keep his college deferment.   So we took he out and got him drunk.   Drinking 3.2 beer in large amount will get you drunk.  There were 5 of us, two to get him drunk and two to get us home (no real drinking on their part).  We were singing a drinking song, when a verse was done, we had to chug mug of beer.  This went on for nearly an hour, don't really remember the number of pitchers of beer we drank but it was a lot.  Anyway he got really drunk and passed out.  I do remember standing and draining the last half pitcher of beer.  Since he was my friend I did pick him up and carried he out to the waiting vehicle. 

Wasn't the last time I over drank, but did taper off a lot after college.   Now a good craft 5.6 craft beer will do me.   I don't chug it but enjoy it for a while.

Funny thing about friend, he got the second highest score out of 5 classes.   Also he was really sick for a while after getting him home.

[f6john]

As usual I’m in the minority, never drank alcohol.

[RP#62]

You gotta get up early, if you're going to drink all day.

-RP

[The emperor has no clothes]

As usual I’m in the minority, never drank alcohol.

Never ?

[Jess from VA]

Another college experience; a 60 minute party.

You drink a shot of beer every minute for an hour.

Sounds easy and no big deal, right?  At the 40 minute point, you are wondering if this was such a good idea.  

At the end of that hour, you'll be trying to put your pants on over your head.  

[The emperor has no clothes]

This talk brings some memories of just how stupid I’ve been in my past. And how lucky I was that times were different.
 One trip to the Kenai River for fishing was one of those times. Me and a couple buddies figured it would be a lot smarter to just get a keg of beer for the trip instead of having to mess with all them cans and bottles. We took off for the 150 mile drive with the keg iced down in the bed of my truck, the hose routed thru the bed window into the cab. Ocassionally stopping to pee and fill up a pitcher for another friend following behind pulling his boat. 10 miles from our destination I get pulled over by a State Trooper for speeding. He sees what’s going on and runs me thru the sobriety tests. Luckily I did ok. He tells us to take the hose out of the cab and go straight to our destination, didn’t even give me a ticket for speeding. You’d have thought that would have been a wake up call for us, but no. We continued drinking all night, get up in the morning load the keg into the boat and go fishing. Evidently someone reported us while on the river, and a Park Ranger had been surveiling us for an hour or so drinking and fishing. Pulled up along side of us and commented that we had enough beer for an army. My smartass friend said “just a small army”. He tells my friend to get away from the controls and for me to drive the boat over to the shore. In front of hundreds of fisherman my friend is run thru the sobriety tests. Luckily he passes. The Ranger looks at us and tells us to get off the river. We go back to camp and polish off the keg.  

I think God must have felt pity for 3 stupid drunks that weekend.

[Serk]

I'm kinda backwards on this timeline.

When I was younger I very rarely drank. The bottles I'd bought for New Year's Eve 1999 were still in my liquor cabinet until around 2010.

For some reason I started drinking a lot more regularly around June of 2011...

(When the triplets were born.)

But, I don't drive anywhere after imbibing, and I don't have a tipple until adulting is done for the day, kids have been handled, duties performed, etc.

[Hooter]

When I went to college it was garbage can parties. If you've been fortunate to attend one you know what I'm talking about.

[f6john]

As usual I’m in the minority, never drank alcohol.

Never ?

Never say never Once when an Outback Steakhouse was having a grand opening in Clarksville Tennessee and the crowd was huge. They were giving away small cups of a drink that looked like orange juice. Turns out it was what they called a Walliby-darn (spelling?) and I drank about half before my friends pointed out it had alcohol in it, so there’s that. Went through 6 years of the military without a beer or otherwise, wasn’t that hard. I never had a desire to drink or smoke.

[f6john]

I'm kinda backwards on this timeline.

When I was younger I very rarely drank. The bottles I'd bought for New Year's Eve 1999 were still in my liquor cabinet until around 2010.

For some reason I started drinking a lot more regularly around June of 2011...

(When the triplets were born.)

But, I don't drive anywhere after imbibing, and I don't have a tipple until adulting is done for the day, kids have been handled, duties performed, etc.

That was 3 years in of he Obama years, if I was going to start there would not have been a better reason.

[The emperor has no clothes]

As usual I’m in the minority, never drank alcohol.

Never ?

Never say never Once when an Outback Steakhouse was having a grand opening in Clarksville Tennessee and the crowd was huge. They were giving away small cups of a drink that looked like orange juice. Turns out it was what they called a Walliby-darn (spelling?) and I drank about half before my friends pointed out it had alcohol in it, so there’s that. Went through 6 years of the military without a beer or otherwise, wasn’t that hard. I never had a desire to drink or smoke.

Good on you  I’ve never had a Wallaby, but I drank more than my share of Swan Lager while in Perth.

[The emperor has no clothes]

I'm kinda backwards on this timeline.

When I was younger I very rarely drank. The bottles I'd bought for New Year's Eve 1999 were still in my liquor cabinet until around 2010.

For some reason I started drinking a lot more regularly around June of 2011...

(When the triplets were born.)

But, I don't drive anywhere after imbibing, and I don't have a tipple until adulting is done for the day, kids have been handled, duties performed, etc.

That was 3 years in of he Obama years, if I was going to start there would not have been a better reason.

Agreed. I celebrated those 8 years very much. 

[baldo]

Another college experience; a 60 minute party.

You drink a shot of beer every minute for an hour.

Sounds easy and no big deal, right?  At the 40 minute point, you are wondering if this was such a good idea.  

At the end of that hour, you'll be trying to put your pants on over your head.  

LOLOLOL

[John Schmidt]

Never was a "drinker" as such, as a kid after a full day in the fields with my two cousins we'd go into town and an older friend would get us a couple bottles that we shared. Not much happening there. In the USAF I couldn't afford to waste the $$ since I had a family so drinking wasn't of interest. Once discharged, it continued to be a non-issue. While working for Xerox in Chicago, the westside office we had was located next door to a local watering hole. I can remember the field reps like myself, along with some salesmen, would go there and drink after work. I did nothing but nurse a glass of 7-up or similar, but remember many of the guys counting out the money needed for tolls to get home, then drink up the rest which I thought was stupid. They'd be back in the bar the next evening. At the time I was smoking and decided one morning on my way to my first call that I no longer needed tobacco....so out the window all the cigarettes and lighters went and I never looked bad....quit cold turkey. Once in a while these days my wife likes a really cold beer so we buy a six pack of Coronita...small 7 ounce bottles of Corona which we will then open one bottle and split it. We bought a six pak nearly four months ago and there's still half of it left. Unless it's rubbing alcohol I really don't need any of it, though I will enjoy a glass of beer once in a while....and usually leave half of it. Guess my life was rather boring in some respects.

[old2soon]

           Ross-da prez-and I would split a case while building his house on weekends. There was ALWAYS beer in my house. Stored it outside in the winter. Couple times I could NOT see the end of the hood on my 69 Pontiac Catalina. Somewhere either side of 50 years of age I started slowing way down on alky consumption. I held a C D L and made danged SURE I did NOT have another drink bout 24 hrs before I climbed back in the cab. Before I got married I used to hit the local waterin holes and check out the female situation and maybe drink half a draft. 4 of us got home from Nam in about a 1 month span. We spent a LOT of Sundays trackin down each others cars. We lived up north of Chicago almost to Wisconsin and I remember one nere do well-Not Me-we finally found his car over in Iowa somewhere. I still drank rather heavily after marrying the first wife and attempted to slow down after Daughter 1 showed up. I was almost successful at that. BUT as much as I did drink and drive I NEVER got a dui/dwi. I deserved a couple but NEVER got one. And I NEVER hurt anyone or myself or a cage/M/C due to drinkin. I KNOW I was either "lucky" or the Good LORD has had my back a lot longer then I am aware of. RIDE SAFE.

[Jess from VA]

I recall a guy smacked his car into an immovable object (after some beers).

A cop drives up and sees him looking his car over and asks.... have an accident?

His reply... no thanks, I just had one, was not as funny as he thought it was.

After 300 or so DUI defenses (back in the day),  I can tell you the worst thing you can do starting out your field sobriety tests on the side of the road is to sing your ABCs, like in elementary school.  It's a dead giveaway you are drunk.  My arguments in court that my clients were just ignorant of their ABCs, and could not recite them without singing, fell on deaf ears.  But it was true, many could not recite them without singing them, sober or not.

And even sober, I cannot spell WORLD backwards to save my life.   (Well, I can, but the one minute delay while I work it out in my head is considered a fail)  

[fudgie]

You gotta get up early, if you're going to drink all day.

-RP

Yup, cant drink all day if you don't start in the morning.

[Ken aka Oil Burner]

Couple times I could NOT see the end of the hood on my 69 Pontiac Catalina.

To be fair, that was one hell of a long hood. That might be possible even in fog. Real fog, not alcohol induced brain fog.

[Bigwolf]

I was going to answer everyone’s comment but now I don’t think I can keep up.  So I will just say thank you to all who have and are adding to this thread.

Bigwolf

When I went to college it was garbage can parties. If you've been fortunate to attend one you know what I'm talking about.

Oh yes!  Except, in my neck of the woods, it was bath tub parties and purple Jesus.  Same concept I bet.

Bigwolf

Jess,
I never joined in any of the drinking “games” ........ there were several being played in those days but I always refused to join.  To me, the games were just an excuse to drink to get drunk........getting drunk was never in my plan.

Bigwolf

Rob,
Stupid may be a little harsh...........even though likely a correct assessment.  In those days though I expect a lot of us felt ten feet tall and bulletproof. ........ out to experience life to the max .... leave no macho experience unchallenged.  It is a wonder that a lot more of us did not die from our follies.

Bigwolf

Brian
I hate to say it man but,....there’s just something different about you.  Oh, I think I understand that timeline.........1 little bugger screaming bout being hungry 3 or 4 times a night and needing cleaned up just as often is enough to make mom and dad both a bit irritable.  Multiply that by 3.......... I have to ask, did you start out with 180 proof?  That’s probably what I would have needed to keep me from needing a straight jacket.  You do a great job with the offspring though......and apparently your drinking is well managed too.....not like mine has been sometimes.

Bigwolf

[bagelboy]

I used to work on the boardwalk at Lucky Leo's in Seaside NJ when I was in college. That was in the early 80.s. After work, we partied pretty good. One particular night I remember drinking beers and eating pizza at the Sawmill. The next thing I remember is I was handcuffed to a chain link fence along with a few others........

[Robert]

Got drunk when I was 18 and had a hangover for 3 days, after that no alcohol, no smoking, no drugs and never really liked beer. Never really found the benefit of it and its expensive to get a mixed drink. Not to mention its empty calories, when I was training it was nice not to have the desire to go out and drink.

[Jess from VA]

Another fun college drinking game......... Find your foot.   

[Wizzard]

I've done more drinking in my life than I had a right to. I'm ashamed to admit when I was young, I would drink and drive. I thank God I never hurt anybody.

You and me both. Must have had guardian angels.  

I had a guy that drank tell me once he felt sorry for those who do not drink. When they get up in the morning that is as good as they are going to feel all day. 

[J.Mencalice]

First weekend of college.  Hot shot adult.  First time drinking hard liquor in quantity (Bacardi, full pint).
 "So where's the Coke that you told me I was supposed to mix this with?"
To this day, the smell and taste of rum makes me wince.
My newly found friends had to pull me out of a tree that night and guide me back to the dormitory.

[3fan4life]

During the 80's I probably drank enough Jim Beam to float a battleship.

Makes for a pretty "Fuzzy" decade.

Age has slowed me way down as it does with most people.

[czuch]

We drilled a straw hole in a mayo jar so the drink wouldn't spill even if you rolled the car.
Plus it held a quart, and you wouldn't have to pull over for 100 miles.
I'm waiting for my "Check liver" light to come on.

[Bigwolf]

Some interesting, even though somewhat similar, stories.  Thanks to all that have added their comments to this post.

Bigwolf