Sorry, not to be morbid, but don’t expect that to last. I knew two fellows of my parents generation who were just like that; everyone marveled at just how much they could put away and seem not to be negatively affected (or even drunk, for that matter). Successful at work, nice families and all. For both of them, at around 65, their bodies gave out and they crashed hard. Seemingly overnight they became like stereotypical “rummys” - slurring, drooling, and reeling. If I recall correctly, each were dead within a year.
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I didn’t expect it to last this long.
In re-reading, I realize I sounded pretty blunt and unfeeling. I’m sorry; it must be hard to see that in a loved one.
I try so very hard never to do this, too. It’s murder on my kidney. Yes, I only have 1. Not because of alcohol. Cancer as a baby. But I have a large drinking personality and I can easily polish off a 12 pack on my own or half a bottle of whisky and a six pack. It’s not pride. I tend to keep it in check and stay on the uphill side of the waterfall. But during the holidays I notice myself drinking 5 or 6 beers in an evening and then my weight starts to creep up again. Have to stay conscious of it.
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Sorry. And it’s sad. I have an uncle who’s a full blown alcie and my grandma was. She was lit all day watching me while my parents were at work. But I survived… Along with early training in alcohol consumption.
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do you have a source for this? I don’t doubt that someone has found the data to be problematic, but I’d like more details.
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It is monstrous, and unfortunately not uncommon. I tend to make light of it, but I know waay too much about the disease.
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Is 10 drinks a day really that extreme? During the height of the British empire, when their fleet was a global superpower, the standard navy ration was 1 gallon of beer per day (more than 10x12 ounces).
People are quick to project their own experience onto others, and see the others as so extreme. Those who drink a lot view the idea of not drinking or rarely and only having a couple as extremely puritanical, while those who don’t drink or drink lightly view the idea of having more than 2, or drinking more than once a week, as extreme alcoholism.
But we’re all different. Some people pass out after 1 drink or are wasted after 2, while others can go through a 12 pack or more without getting overly drunk. To some people any alcohol buzz feels like being sick, but others enjoy it.
I wonder how that would actually break down. Anecdotally, some of the most successful people I’ve known were also among the hardest drinkers. But at the opposite end of the success spectrum were other heavy drinkers. Perhaps it’s an inverse bell curve.
Somehow I doubt that imitating the drinking habits of a British tar constitute part of a hale diet. Better for you than spoiled meat, hardtack and old leather isn’t exactly a high bar.
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We can certainly be what the US calls hard drinkers, but it does add calories and organ damage to the mix. One of the smartest guys I’ve worked for encouraged me to drink at 9am, cause that’s what They did. But I can’t in good conscience condone that or multiple drinks a day for anyone.
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Well, we all have different points of view. I myself don’t drink, not because of any particularly strong moral opposition to it, but mostly because I can’t stand the taste of alcohol.
But I do enjoy the physical act of drinking fluids, and it seems I’m always thirsty. It’s easy for me to gurgle my way down an entire 64-ounce Double Gulp of Dr Pepper on a hot afternoon under the hood of my car, even though the very thought of drinking a half-gallon of soda in a sitting strikes many people as insane. But when I think of trying to drink an entire 12-pack of beer (or even Dr Pepper) in a day, my mind reels a bit. I’m not sure I could drink an entire gallon of water in a day.
Okay, yeah, I probably could.
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You could. My dad and I hiking at altitude in NM were drinking 2.5 gallons a day each. You lose more water to just breathing up there than from sweat or urination. The air is thirstier than you are.
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I remember that feeling the last time I was in Utah. Had to really lotion up the legs & feet.
Kinda glad SoCal is only semiarid. If I had to live east of the Rockies, the humidity would make me melt. But that arid Utah air was downright painful.
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I couldn’t tell you how many nosebleeds I had down there in NM. It was more of a week long continuous flow from my face, due to the weird pressure and my sinuses drying out.
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Didn’t you guys try that once and got organised crime and the comic book industry as a result, so pretty much a text book definition of ‘mixed blessing’…
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I think I heard it discussed on a BBC podcast, but I can’t really remember the details unfortunately. You might have better luck trying to locate the original research and seeing for yourself.
I think the key here is “night”-- you’re wasting valuable drinking time if you’re not having an eye-opener in the morning, and a 3-martini lunch.
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A decade ago, our regular bar had $2 (Canadian!) beer Fridays. Those were the days - being able to go out with a $20, and drink a 6 pack and still have enough to tip (not well, but well enough for a dive bar with bras hanging over the bar and Christmas lights hanging on the patio year-round). Of course, $2 beers meant that we didn’t stop ourselves at a 6 pack - oh no, no indeed. At our bingiest early-20-something best, It would be a MINIMUM of 10 drinks a night (often easily topping 15), 2-3 nights a week. If I did that now, at 37, I would be dead after the first night, and in bed for the next 3 days.
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And when you say Detroit, you mean “the City of Detroit.” I assure you, mortgages go up pretty quickly the second you’re beyond the city limits.
Perhaps loan on a luxury car would be a better comparison?
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[quote=“GulliverFoyle, post:59, topic:71107”]
Also also, I feel like this headline is misleading. 74 drinks a week seem more likely among the bottom 10% of Americans, [/quote]
I think it’s just oddly worded – the “Top 10%” is referring to the top 10% drink rating, not social / economic rating. (I thought the same thing when I first saw it.)
Well, I’m pretty happy with it, although I don’t drink alcohol.
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