Beer is My Anti-drug
June 2nd 2009 14:36
Everyone has seen the commercials...where they show some kid playing basketball at the park, kicking around a soccer ball in the school yard, another practicing a musical instrument... When, out of nowhere, some thug teenager tries offering them pot. However, the kids are too busy with their hobbies, and are quite content without the pot. They reinforce this at the end of the commercial, when they hold out their ball or trumpet and say something along the lines of, "music...is my antidrug."
To me, that's all fine and dandy. Of course if I was playing a sport like soccer or basketball competitively, I wouldn't want to be chasing the dragon...although I do have a problem believing the musical kid. How many musicians are constantly high? Not a very good excuse, kid. I too, along with those sporty kids, never touched a drug while I was running around the court or field. But what about all the free time you aren't playing or practicing? I know of tons of professional athletes who abused things like pot, meth, cocaine...all when they didn't have practice or a game. When I had some free time in college from football, beer was my ally against drugs.
Ok, so I know people reading this, especially anti-drinkers or even those who dabble with drugs will claim alcohol is a drug too, or that pot isn't as bad for you. When I'm talking about beer, I'm not just talking about slamming Natty Lights all day just to get drunk. I'm talking about beer as a hobby. I love to taste all kinds of (non light) beers. I love trying to make my own beer. I'd rather spend twenty dollars at the bar for a champagne-sized bottle of Saison Dupont than for a case of Coors, which would get me ten times more drunk for the same price. When I'm drinking beer and tasting the flavors, I have never thought in the back of my mind, "oh man, I friggen need an eight ball right now." It's more like, "Holy f**k, I need some Guinness Ale stew with this delicious beer." I think beer has the ability to go better with food than any fine wine (and I have had many of those as well), because of the extreme variations of beer you can find.
Don't get me wrong...I know beer in itself is a drug (it gets you drunk if you have too many), and I won't claim I don't ever get drunk or don't enjoy it when I am (I just recently went to a beer tasting in Atlantic City, NJ called 'Celebration of the Suds', which had over 400 different beers....and I got hammered drunk and had the time of my life...and I do drink beer socially on the weekends with friends), but I never crave anything else. No other drug. Ever. Beer gives me what I need in both flavor and feeling, and because of this (as the lights dim around me, and I'm holding out a bottle of Chimay Grande Reserve, I say...) "Beer... is my antidrug."
To me, that's all fine and dandy. Of course if I was playing a sport like soccer or basketball competitively, I wouldn't want to be chasing the dragon...although I do have a problem believing the musical kid. How many musicians are constantly high? Not a very good excuse, kid. I too, along with those sporty kids, never touched a drug while I was running around the court or field. But what about all the free time you aren't playing or practicing? I know of tons of professional athletes who abused things like pot, meth, cocaine...all when they didn't have practice or a game. When I had some free time in college from football, beer was my ally against drugs.
Ok, so I know people reading this, especially anti-drinkers or even those who dabble with drugs will claim alcohol is a drug too, or that pot isn't as bad for you. When I'm talking about beer, I'm not just talking about slamming Natty Lights all day just to get drunk. I'm talking about beer as a hobby. I love to taste all kinds of (non light) beers. I love trying to make my own beer. I'd rather spend twenty dollars at the bar for a champagne-sized bottle of Saison Dupont than for a case of Coors, which would get me ten times more drunk for the same price. When I'm drinking beer and tasting the flavors, I have never thought in the back of my mind, "oh man, I friggen need an eight ball right now." It's more like, "Holy f**k, I need some Guinness Ale stew with this delicious beer." I think beer has the ability to go better with food than any fine wine (and I have had many of those as well), because of the extreme variations of beer you can find.
Don't get me wrong...I know beer in itself is a drug (it gets you drunk if you have too many), and I won't claim I don't ever get drunk or don't enjoy it when I am (I just recently went to a beer tasting in Atlantic City, NJ called 'Celebration of the Suds', which had over 400 different beers....and I got hammered drunk and had the time of my life...and I do drink beer socially on the weekends with friends), but I never crave anything else. No other drug. Ever. Beer gives me what I need in both flavor and feeling, and because of this (as the lights dim around me, and I'm holding out a bottle of Chimay Grande Reserve, I say...) "Beer... is my antidrug."
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Comment by Rob Brassell
on Things Americans Don't Understand About Us
My Life as a Cartoon
As for the Yale University blurb...there are many Americans who live their lives without gaining knowledge of other countries and their history/politics/etc. This may or may not be caused by their belief that knowledge of another country is a waste of time and won't bring them any reward in life. (I'm not going to learn Japanese and their history and political views) because it would be a waste of time in my line of work.
Americans are, however, very in tune with world events that have an effect on our country (the middle east, the E.U, North Korea, etc.). People can't just simply hate on Americans for not knowing something about their country's culture, when most Americans don't ever get the chance to even leave America. America isn't like a European country, which could be the size of an American state, surrounded on all sides by other "states" all with separate languages and governments. It isn't necessary for survival for everyone to know other languages and customs. (Although every state in America has its own form of language and customs...someone from New York can have a completely different view on words and values than someone from Georgia).
America is a country with over 300 million people, and yes, a lot of those people don't ever leave the country or know much or care to know much about other countries. It isn't necessary for them to. However, there are millions of Americans who do. Like me, from "killadelphia". If you ever visit again, check out the entire city, not just the bad part.
As for YALE, they can take their elitist liberal proclamation that Americans are dumb (Ivy League Universities tend to look down upon any other trains of thought outside of the Northeast of the USA), and spend sometime with, say, a Midwest potato farmer in Idaho, who never leaves his county let alone country.