Monday, August 31, 2015

I Tried To Like Alcohol

When I was very young my dad shared a can of beer with me. It was nice, but I didn’t enjoy it. Later, he would allow me sips of the hard stuff. I didn’t enjoy it either. By not forbidding alcohol, I think my dad actually diffused a curiosity about it that could have led to me indulging in it out of spite.

I tried drinking again in college, but I did it more to fit in. I still didn’t like the taste of beer, but I did enjoy feeling buzzed. Was that it? Were people drinking because they enjoyed the buzz rather than the taste? Because honestly, beer really tasted nasty.

When my GF broke up with me back when I was a young adult, I took to going to Shakey’s and having a large pizza and a pitcher of draft beer all to myself. I did this as often as my paycheck would allow. I kind of liked draft beer but I still thought it tasted weird and bitter. I still loved the feeling of being buzzed and enjoyed the challenge of going home, on foot, trying to act like I wasn’t drunk.

One day when I was still feeling really down because of the breakup, I found a recipe for a zombie drink which consisted of rum, juices, and grenadine. I gulped down two glasses at once and enjoyed it because I like juice but there was a weird, strong aftertaste that I attributed to the rum. I got drunk real fast and threw up. I felt horrible. I never tried that again.

Still feeling really down, I attended a school reunion and got really drunk. My classmates brought me home in dad’s car (which I had borrowed) as I threw up in the back seat. It was terrible. Back home, mom dragged me to the bathroom and gave me a shower, cursing all the way. I didn’t take a drink after that for a long time.

As time passed, I would just have sparkling white wine here and there during Christmas and that’s it. One New Year’s I tried getting drunk on lambanog. But it tasted nasty so I didn’t get fully drunk, just half buzzed.

Even today when I drink beer with friends I still don’t like the taste of beer. It’s just nasty. I just don’t get it. Why is this such a popular drink? People all over the place seem to enjoy it. And drink lots of it. They like it so much that a lot of them become alcoholics. But it just tastes nasty to me.

Hard drinks taste even nastier. I tried them all. Rum, vodka, tequila, whiskey… even the tame stuff like Tanduay Ice. Even wine, red or white. They all taste weird and nasty. An average ice cold glass of Coca Cola still tastes much better. So what gives? Why are people drinking this stuff?

It’s not like I haven’t tried like it. Lord knows the many kind of brands of beer I tried. Most of the time I never even finish the bottle. I’m always like what the fuck is this shit?

I guess it’s really not just for me.

No comments:

Post a Comment