in vino veritas

RW asks: what's the deal with non-drinkers?

At the risk of posting merely to point out that I completely agree with him, I must say that I completely agree with him.

I am not an advocate of frequent drunkenness. I am, however, a firm believer in frequent visits to the warm, happy, gregarious state utterly radiating self-assurance that anyone with a healthy state of mind can easily achieve with a couple of drinks and the right company. (And occasional drunkenness.)

Alcohol, after all, is the great social lubricant. Just this evening I had occasion to share a few pints of the black stuff at my local pub with an Irish fellow, also named Brian. He claimed to be part of an Irish noble family (among other things) which as far as I can tell was "bollocks" as they say (there really is no such thing as nobility in Ireland anymore, and even those that lay claim to title have no role in the government, ceremonial or otherwise, and this is important because among his many tales was one of going back to Ireland to vote his grandfather's proxy in the House of Lords), but really, it doesn't matter because the conversation passed the time and was entertaining. (The Irish are good storytellers). More to the point, there is absolutely no way this conversation would have occurred over coffee.

Anyway.

Not to mention the fact that good beer and good wine (and I'm told good liquor as well, though that really isn't my thing) are the perfect compliment to food and fellowship. Cultures around the world incorporate communal drinking into the most intimate and important rituals of social bonding: the new year, holidays, college football, courtship, weddings, and wakes (except for the Muslims, of course, and look how that's working out.) One of the greatest atrocities visited upon Christianity by modern Evangelicals is the substitution of Welch's for a proper wine at communion.

To be sure, there are few people more destructive and less trustworthy than a bona fide alcoholic, and for them, there is every reason not to touch the stuff. But I truly believe that they are a tiny proportion of the population--for the rest, alcoholism is just a convenient excuse for being an irresponsible jackass. What do you expect when you tell people the first step is to admit they have no control over their own behavior? But that's another rant entirely...