Really? Because I don't drink, never have, and never will, and I have plenty of friends.

I see it as the choice between being in complete control of your actions, and... not. I've trained and dedicated the better part of my life to be ready for whatever happens when the time comes, be it someone falling and breaking a leg, to someone breaking into my house at night, to an alien/zombie invasion. I've studied and trained Martial Arts (and more brutal, less "official" systems of fighting), and Parkour, I've read huge amounts of literature on common (and slightly more uncommon) injuries and medical conditions to the point where I may not be able to FIX it, but I can at least stabalize the person until someone who is trained to fix them can arrive.

I've spent all of this preparing for anything that can feasibly happen, and if the time comes when I need to put my knowledge to use and I am totally sloshed... well then I think I kind of missed my mark there. A man named Georges Hebert once said the basis behind his "Methode Naturalle" (A style of training that makes use of natural movements. More information here) is the quote "Be strong to be useful." I want to be useful, so I must become strong. If at any point, you voluntarily weaken yourself, then that is not useful.

I don't drink, I never have, and never will, because I want to be strong to be useful. This doesn't mean I look down on people who do, but don't lump all of us in the "losers with no friends" category just because we choose to be in control of our actions at all times.

you can drink in still be in control of your actions.. just drink responsibly.

Eh, you're making a pretty ****ty generalization just as Yoshi did.

I'm not saying all people who drink do not do so responsibly. I was mostly just trying to counter Yoshi's statement that people who don't drink don't have many friends with my personal reason against drinking.

For most of the time it seems like drinking brings out the true self of a human being, so I wouldn't assume that the guy who burns his ex-wife and her new family while intoxicated is really a merry-go-round Oskar Schindler of the town.

Hell, I'm as boring/lunatic/Uzbek as ever after the adequate downage of Mozart & Kirsberry.

And Dj-Yoshi is, well, Dj-Yoshi. 'nuff said

I really don't lump Vernors together with other ginger ale. The taste is so distinct. I'm pretty surprised you've had it, though, I didn't think it was that popular outside Michigan.

Canada Dry is easily the best ginger ale you will ever taste.

Your choice of drinks reflect who you are, and your palette. This is true with anything else. You're at lunch with your boss, at a nice restaurant. If you're smart, you don't order chicken fingers, to show you have some class, and can appreciate good food. In the same way you don't drink Smirnoff Ice (read: sugarwater) unless you want to be labeled as a kid. It's more about having a refined palette than simply masculinity. Chick drink is a slang term, and pretty sexist, since I don't know any chicks who actually drink Smirnoff Ice.

i'll have a samuel jackson.

SAMUEL JACKSON. IT'LL GET YOU DRUNK.

I'll have a Sam Adams, please
It's 9:30 in the morning!'
And don't you have an outstanding DUI?
Yeah, but I gotta get the taste of weed and hooker spit out of my mouth.
I'll have a Sam Adams as well.

Samuel Adams! Always a good decision!

Indeed. The idea that you lose control once you start drinking is pretty ludicrous. It takes most people, in my experience, a lot more than a buzz to "lose control" by any sense of the word.

This also seems to depend on what you're drinking to start with. Usual I'm a merry drunk, but if I'm drinking copious amounts of wine I tend to be an annoying ****.



[I anticipate posts telling me that I'm an annoying **** anyway.]

i've come to the conclusion that i'm allergic to beer. if i have more than 1.5 beers i vomit. and at that point i'm not even buzzed. i dont know whether to really call it an allergy, but my body just rejects it outright. i mean i like the taste of beer, so its not like gag reflex from pouring some nasty crap down my throat, but whatever.

when i feel like drinking, and dont want to spend a lot of money on a bottle of gin or tequila (my liquors of choice, whisky on special occasions.) i'll pick up a six pack of smirnoff. or if i'm going to a party where i know i wont drink a lot, i'll again pick up a six pack of them, because it doesnt feel like such a waste to leave them there as opposed to a partially empty bottle of something.

so really it isnt all about refined palates and such. if i could drink beer, i would. its cheap, it tastes good, it has many varieties. my body is just unable to process it.

You should try drinking cider. Woodchuck brand is pretty good, and I've found it in most liquor stores I've come across.

yeah i do ciders once in a while, but around here they're hard to find, even at liquor stores. there is one bar that has it on tap though.

or strongbow on tap (quiet britassians, its the best cider to be had in the states) at mularky's in willoughby.

I won't be quiet, Strongbow extra cold on tap is my drink of choice.