humanity
Alcohol is nothing without someone to drink it and the substance changes lives for many who partake; a glimpse into the impact of alcohol on humanity.
I cut out alcohol from my diet and this is what happened.
As a young adolescent teenager or college student, in America, there is something that starts to become constantly encouraged and accepted by the society around you, and that is alcohol. It’s all around you and probably has been since you were growing up. You see it in tv commercials, movies, restaurants, family gathers, and social media. Alcohol is something that culturally we have found a way to integrate into our lives and society has entirely normalized drinking and quite frankly, encourages it.
By Keisha Oleaga5 years ago in Proof
Three Man!
The year was 1990 and I was a wet behind the ears; a 16 yr old that was going to have his first real initiation into a little dice game called “Three Man!” The pungent odor of black burning asphalt oozed in through my open bedroom window. The sun’s rays barely seeped through the tightly packed city houses. It was a typical July day and some friends had recently graduated high school. They were shipping off for the Marines in a few weeks. The day started innocently enough with a distinct whirring and ringing echoing from the kitchen. Mom answered the phone and bellowed my name. I pick up the call; it was from my buddy Pete about going to crash Terry’s graduation party. He said “it was cool”. Since we would wait till most of his family left and it wasn’t a huge deal. My parents were super chill buy they said “definitely be back before midnight.”
By Tony Messina5 years ago in Proof
Behaving Badly or Hiding Pain?
There’s a saying in Scotland that goes something like this “A Fu’ man is a true man”. What that means in plain English is quite simply... your fellow human who has imbibed a vast amount of alcohol will eschew the niceties of social behaviour and show and or tell you exactly how it is. How they are.
By Gillian Lesley Scott5 years ago in Proof
Singled Up
**This story is inspired by the song Singles You Up by Jordan Davis** We had come to the bar after met up with my family so that he could watch the game. Like always he had ordered us both drinks before I had a chance to say a word. It's not that I mind drinking a bit of wine but usually only with dinner. Normally I would chose a whiskey and coke or similar mixed drink but Joe has never bothered to ask what I want to drink when we go to the bar. Considering I don't really care about the sports game that's on I start looking around the hometown bar that I had gotten into trouble at more than once and saw one of my high school friends. I was surprised to meet Alex's eyes and nodded at him, admittedly a little grumpy at how the day was going.
By Courtney Seever5 years ago in Proof
Agave's Waking Reality
For what some would call the 'Marmite' of alcoholic spirits, tequila has seen a well-deserved surge in popularity in recent years. With A-list celebrities forging their own tequila brands, and consumers opting for more premium expressions, the world of agave (which includes tequila and its earthy cousin, mezcal) now presents us with a seemingly limitless realm of opportunity and exploration.
By Shaun Hall5 years ago in Proof
The Gift that Kept on Brewing
It appears that humans have always had a predilection for drinking beer. It has always been considered a divine, intoxicating substance that was imbibed for reasons stretching from medicinal usages to sheer recreation. No one area of the world or Ancient civilization can boast to have invented the substance, yet where ever one found agricultural practices that involved grain production, there would have been the ability to discover the process required ferment beer. Ancient beer didn’t use hops but instead was probably a product of grains fermenting overtime and then being exposed to natural yeasts in the air. In fact, one interesting factoid to consider is that the first brewers, particularly in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, are thought to have been women. What societal phenomena led to brewing becoming a female-dominated area are unknown. However, as time moved forward, Medieval European monasteries began brewing their own beer for mass consumption and created the Western style of artisanal beers. The Monks, who tweaked the process, undoubtedly were males and their expertise was passed on to exclusively men. From here, there was a massive proliferation of new styles and methods being invented, influencing the cultures of various European countries. Next comes the Industrial Revolution, improving techniques and bringing better machinery, while allowing for mass production and thus, more commercial consumption. Throughout this long history, beer became better, more liquidous—less like the gruel-like substance of the ancient world, and more importantly, a more male-dominated industry. The Prohibition Movement of the American U.S, wiped out the legal beer market in America. Upon its repeal, a watered-down, more regulated, prohibitionist pilsner emerged opening the way for Budweiser, Coors and Miller.
By Robert Burton5 years ago in Proof
A Post Shift Shift
Post Shift Shift After a rigorous work shift in which a man labors physically and does not earn the wage at which he feels valued, he can find solace in only one thing. Well, two if you want to be technical: a shot and a beer. Also known as a beer and a bump (although where I come from a beer and a bump is a much different remedy.) Many call this cure a boilermaker.
By Matthew Nachtsheim5 years ago in Proof
To Booze or Not To Booze
One of my biggest takeaways from having to stay home for nine months is that alcohol is wildly overrated. I've never been much of a fan to begin with, but, in your twenties and thirties, drinking just sort of comes with the territory if you want to spend time with people. You and your friends go to bars, or house parties, or boozy brunches, or painting classes that serve wine, or places where you can inexplicably throw axes and drink alcohol at the same time. You toss back some champagne at weddings and New Year's Eve parties, maybe do a shot or two to celebrate a work promotion. You meet first dates at bars because you know you'll both need to calm your nerves, and nothing fills an awkward silence like taking a sip from your glass and asking how each other's drinks are. It gets exhausting. And alcohol usually doesn't even taste that good!
By Jess Goodwin5 years ago in Proof
