Drinking, as in drinking liquor or anything alcoholic, has never been a top social activity in my books. It ranks slightly lower on things I prefer not to do in life (a couple of rungs below "smoking") and I try to avoid it as much as I can.Contrary to popular belief (by friends and the numerous doctors who show doubt when I answer their query on how frequent I consume alcohol with "occasionally"), I do not like to drink. If you've been to one of the few gatherings my wife and I have organized for our daughter (baptismal, 1st and 2nd birthdays) alcohol is almost never served unless requested. I don't consider beer to be part of the party's budget in the first place.
I would also rather enjoy a quiet evening with friends in a coffee shop or restaurant rather than in a booze bar. While I will merrily ride along if friends and companions prefer the chaos and noise of a bar to enjoy a bottle or two (or five) but personally I would've preferred downing two mugs of dark coffee while enjoying the conversation. In the first place, no conversations happen in a bar with blaring music. What happens is a shout-out and shout-back.
If alcohol and beer appealed to me, I would've already been seduced since high school. Most certainly I could have conked myself drunk every night during my college years if that were the case. Even more certainly, my earlier professional years allowed me the chance to purchase drunkenness if (and only if) I had wanted alcohol. But alcohol never really appealed to me. Never did, never will.
Then how do I explain my rather rotundness? (something the annual physical exam docs associate with regular drinking)
My being fat has to do with an overly aggressive food intake and not because I've been to too many drinking binges. The times I've drank are far and few in between and the last time I've drank majorly was in the company outing last year when I downed 2.5 bottles. Before that, the most bottles that I drank was 4 and that happened only on a couple of occasions. A normal consumption for me would be 2 bottles max and even at that weakling of a number I've been cutting down to just 1 bottle or even less per occasion (and being a bit of an introvert, those occasions are very, very rare indeed).
I don't even recall the last time I've drank beer. I think it still dates back to that company outing I mentioned earlier. I managed to get home alcohol-free from the company Christmas party early December and during the holidays just swilled a bit on red wines (take note, a bit).
Don't get me wrong, I've experienced drunkenness before. And I swore to myself while puking my guts out over the inodoro that I will never get drunk again after that one instance. This happened in college when some youngish relatives dropped by (cousins of mine) and as is the normal decorum my father proceeded to offer alcohol -- beer, wine, rum, even a sangria. He then prodded me to join them (his drinking companions being my age group, he reasoned) and left with no choice, I indulged in that "washing". So, there I was drinking glass after glass of beer, rum, wine and sangria (the last three leftovers from previous celebrations of my father) all the while worrying if I can still wake up at 4am the next morning to catch the earliest bus to U.P. as the next day was registration day. In those heydays, computerized registration was still a dream and us Isko's and Iska's had to line up for each and every subject (hence the moniker U.P. = University of Pila). At around 2am, my guts exploded and I found myself in the toilet emptying the contents of my digestive tract.
Since that day, I've made sure to never get myself drunk again. And I've kept that promise. Anytime I feel the alcoholic drink beginning to seep through my brain (the signal is light-headiness), I stop the alcohol and I don't care if it was just my first bottle.
All in all, for courtesy's sake, I drink, especially when proffered a bottle or a can. You don't want to offend in the first place so you accept. But if I can, I avoid it. Being a diabetic for over a year now has given me a very valid medical excuse not to drink. It's hard on the liver and I can't risk that with the D and all.
So, I apologize to all those who I've possibly offended, insulted or inconvenienced with my refusal to accept your invitation to go out for a bottle or two. I know it's for camaraderie and all but if I can possibly avoid it. I will avoid it.
Magkape na lang tayo :)
* San Miguel Pale Pilsen image courtesy of Wikipedia. San Miguel Pale Pilsen name, design, bottle and label are trademarks of San Miguel Brewery and San Miguel Corporation. All rights remain with them.
