{"id":5120,"date":"2014-03-07T16:34:58","date_gmt":"2014-03-07T22:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/?p=5120"},"modified":"2014-04-05T10:36:40","modified_gmt":"2014-04-05T16:36:40","slug":"the-session-85-why-do-you-drink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/golf\/lifestyle\/5120\/the-session-85-why-do-you-drink","title":{"rendered":"The Session #85: Why Do You Drink?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Session\"<\/a>One of my college suitemates, whom I\u2019ll call Henry, was a master of dark humor. He always elicited a laugh from us when he talked about his alcohol consumption: \u201cI don\u2019t like to drink,\u201d he said. \u201cI have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henry had an overbearing mother and was long-suffering from an unrequited love affair. Ergo, he drank to forget. As we all know, a short term solution.<\/p>\n

Most of us in those halcyon college days didn\u2019t really care that much about what we drank. Anything we could get our hands on (illegally) would do, and lousy cheap beer was the default position. Our goals were mainly getting a little high, and improving our odds at seduction.<\/p>\n

\"College-Binge-Drinking\"<\/a>Keep in mind that for me this is going back a long time, when lousy cheap beer was pretty much all that was available. I have a feeling beer geekery is starting at a much younger age these days, although cheapness is undoubtedly still a factor.<\/p>\n

In any case, Douglas Smiley, proprietor over at the Baltimore Bistros & Beer blogsite, posed the question, \u201cWhy Do You Drink?\u201d as Session #85. (For those new to the notion, The Session is a monthly effort where beer writers around the interwebs respond to a topic question. Clearly, it\u2019s been going on for quite a while. The list of responses this month can be accessed at Baltimore Bistros & Beer<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Perhaps my title should be \u201cWhy Do I Drink?\u201d but I\u2019ve often heard the question the other way when grilled by my granddaughter, Abby. One night around our dinner table a couple of years ago, in a decidedly prosecutorial tone, Abby pounced on me: \u201cGrandpa, why do you drink?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"deadly-beer\"<\/a>I started to answer, but my response was clearly not self-incriminating enough for Abby, so she loudly moved on with: \u201cNext question! Why do you drink beer?\u201d<\/p>\n

I was, again, all too reasonable in reply, and so \u201cNext question!\u201d quickly ensued, and on we went straight into a comedy routine that has become family lore.<\/p>\n

Abby, at the time, had clearly bought into whatever propaganda was going around in her school, that alcohol was some kind of deadly drug and that nothing but madness and degradation could come of ingesting it.<\/p>\n

Which is why I\u2019m glad we had the discussion, or whatever it was. I pause here to replay a photo of Abby that popped up in a recent review of Avec Les Bon Voeux<\/a>, and to note that she had tried both a martini and the beer that evening. And to repeat her succinct review of the beer: \u201cBetter than the martini.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Abby<\/a>

Abby Bedell samples Avec les Bons Voeux<\/p><\/div>\n

I believe I said in mock earnestness, \u201cAbby, why do you drink?\u201d but I can\u2019t recall any answer but a laugh.<\/p>\n

She might have said, \u201cOut of curiosity,\u201d or, \u201cTo see what the fuss is all about,\u201d and both answers would have been valid enough for me. Lord knows I drink plenty of beers out of curiosity, and would gladly drink others to see what the fuss is all about if I could lay my hands on them.<\/p>\n

I drink beer, mostly. And so the simplest answer I can really give to the question is that I drink beer because it enhances my life. It\u2019s a fairly simple transaction.<\/p>\n

But I love beer in most of its manifestations\u2014its look, smell, taste, variety, history and cultural trappings\u2014so the effect of drinking a beer can be a profound afflatus. Or, just another beer. Depends how I\u2019m feeling.<\/p>\n

In my small pond I sometimes come across as a big fish of beer, and people crack jokes about my drinking as though I were the local Dean Martin, albeit awash on a sea of beer. But in truth, my habits are fairly modest. Some nights only one. Most nights two, more only on some kind of occasion.<\/p>\n

\"Blasphemy<\/a>

Blasphemy and Salvation–I’ve got it covered<\/p><\/div>\n

I often wish I could drink more in a single night, but I know there\u2019s nothing to be physically gained from it. Still, a day or evening without a beer is virtually unthinkable and can mean only one thing\u2014I\u2019m terribly sick.<\/p>\n

At the moment, I\u2019m feeling quite healthy, and it\u2019s almost 5 pm. As soon as my wife returns from some errands we\u2019ll have our evening ritual\u2014a martini for her, a thoughtfully chosen beer for me. If I asked her, \u201cWhy do you drink?\u201d she\u2019d tell me I talked her into the routine, as indeed I did, since I firmly believe that a moderate drinker is healthier than a teetotaler.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t remember if I ever gave that one as a reason to Abby or not. But I should.<\/p>\n

[March 7, 2014]<\/em><\/p>\n

Related posts: The Session<\/a> posts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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