Alcohol adventures

[Llarry]

Inspired by the story @3.0L told in the "You know you're old when..." thread is this suggestion: Tell the story of your first encounter -- or perhaps first serious encounter -- with alcohol.

I will start. As a youngster I had a few encounters with a beer or two, but the most memorable incident was my high school graduation party on the small base in the Philippines where I graduated. The entire graduating class -- all 12 of us I think -- went to the base officer's club to celebrate on the afternoon of graduation day. Somebody ordered a bottle of champagne. Llarry discovered he really, really liked champagne. None of us had much money to spend on this party, though the drinks were inexpensive, but Big Man on Campus Llarry decided that he would charge a few bottles to his Dad's club account. I got rip-roaring, can't-see-or-walk-straight drunk but somehow managed to walk the couple of blocks home.

I was violently ill that night. By morning I was still heavily under the influence and now had a headache that rated about 15 on a scale of 10 and continued to empty my stomach into the toilet. The headache did not respond to aspirin (the only thing available in 1965.) The next day (two days after the party) I had stopped vomiting but still had a terrible headache. I think my stomach was unsettled and I had at least a slight headache for several days thereafter. For many years I could not stand the smell, let alone the taste of champagne.

My Dad was clearly amused by all this when I told him of my transgression on his account and forgave the unauthorized charges of champagne. If I remember correctly, that $10-20 was in essence my graduation gift from high school.

[DrVenture]

Similar tale from when I was 13 years old. It was a concoction of various hard liquors my friend poured from multiple bottles, so that his dad would not notice.

I still will not drink any brown liquor to this day!

[M_Six]

Vodka was my nemesis. I loved vodka drinks like vodka and tonic or screwdrivers. But vodka always snuck up on me. I'd feel fine and then WHAM, I'd be drunk as hell and talking to Ralph on the big white phone. My worst hangovers were always due to vodka.

As I look back on my life, virtually all the times I made an ass of myself were due to having too much to drink.

[Car-Addicted]

Still don't trust tequila, nuff said.

[2000cs]

My dad drank too much and got mean, so I never drank a lot.

A good friend buried his alcoholic daughter and adopted her child (her husband was drug addicted and glad to be rid of the girl). Was in his early 70s when he adopted and is still working.

A close relative nearly succumbed to alcoholism, was day drinking and all the rest. Lucky that two car accidents were solo and no DUI (one PI, now expunged). Jumped out of a moving vehicle at about 30 mph to avoid rehab (which is a joke). BA levels unbelievably high, ER several times.

I rarely drink anymore. I just don’t find it as pleasurable, and jokes don’t ring funny anymore.

[OtoPA]

At 16 and New Year's Eve, my parents allowed me to drink at home, so I drank ..everything. Woke up under the coffee table, looking up through the glass. Sick in bed that night. Horrible headache, but, It was a New Year's Concert in Diamond Head and friends pushed. We rode Da Bus (diesel fumes) to the event. To enter the crater, you had to go through a tunnel in which some very vindictive people had lined with speakers, cranked up, of course.. A wonderful day.

[Maynard]

Alcohol is god's way of (trying to) teach mankind moderation.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Still don't trust tequila, nuff said.

I have never done tequila.

While I stopped drinking anything alcoholic a couple of years ago -- nothing dramatic, just quit -- I had a bad experience at age 19-20 with Southern Comfort. I do not remember what I mixed it with, but it ended up being a sweet and potent mix. I was in the middle of having a good time when it hit me. Bad hangover. Never again, I said.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Llarry

I have never done tequila.

While I stopped drinking anything alcoholic a couple of years ago -- nothing dramatic, just quit -- I had a bad experience at age 19-20 with Southern Comfort. I do not remember what I mixed it with, but it ended up being a sweet and potent mix. I was in the middle of having a good time when it hit me. Bad hangover. Never again, I said.

You're a rare person who learns a lesson the first time it's taught. I said "never again" too many times. I've stopped the alcohol, too. I did Dry January in 2023 and never went back. Non-alcoholic beer has improved to the point where it's very drinkable, so that's what I've been doing since then.

[hubbahubba]

There was one night during my freshman year of college that I took down a 24 pack of MGD and a bag of O’Boises chips. Really don’t remember how I got back to my dorm room.. We had beds that would pull out, and I stored my pillows down there during the day. I can still hear the awful sound of my roommate clanking his cereal bowl in the morning. It was painful. When I came to, he said “dude, what is that smell?” I looked down at where my pillows were and it was a mess of half digested chips and bile/beer. Took that pillow and threw it right out the window.

Like Llarry I also had trouble (twice) with Southern Comfort. One of those also freshman year. I drove my moped into a ditch…

Those were the worst 3 of my life. Have managed moderation ever since.

[Esteban]

Me and my best friend had turned 18 and decided to go to a massage parlor in Hollywood for our birthdays. I know, crazy kids. We bought a case of beer (we already drank one case) and were driving around trying to decide which one to go to. We pulled over, drunk as hell, and were looking through one of those newspapers that advertises massage parlors and all kinds of kinky stuff trying to decide which one to go to. There were several back then.

I left the car running (thinking we wouldn’t be long) but had put it in neutral and pulled the parking brake. We were so drunk after a little bit we both passed out. Next thing we knew a couple of cops were at our doors trying to wake us. Well, we both got arrested that night for public intoxication and were taken to jail and were released the next morning and had to pay a $25 fine. Lucky I didn't get a D.U.I.

I learned my lesson, never drank and drove again, and like my friend above hubbahubba said, have drank in moderation ever since. These days I drink at home and if I ever do have a little too much which might happen now and then at least I know I'm safe.

[3.0L]

Back to Germany again. 1968, Hanau. I was an E-4 at the time. An E-5 in our
section invited me to join him at the NCO Club about 2 blocks away from our
barracks. He said it was “2 for 1 night” and he was buying, plus there was a
“pretty good” band playing. Well, the band sucked, but the drinks were good.

So, off we went. Found a table close to the stage. Next thing I know, 4 Rum
and Cokes arrive; 2 for him and 2 for me. They went down pretty nice. At
only 25 cents for 2 drinks, the E-5 kept ordering more. I remember his eyes
getting bloodshot. When number 13 and 14 arrived, I excused myself and left.
I could barely walk. The cobblestone sidewalk was giving me a hard time. The
bumps seemed exagerated. I remember going through the IN and OUT doors
of the Guard Shack, probably one of more totally plowed troops to stagger
through that night. Our rooms were on the 4th floor. I literally had to crawl
up each flight of stairs. Woke up in my rack the next morning, fully clothed,
shoes and all.

That was the last time I got plowed. 😵*💫🤣

[KevinC]

My stories with alcohol are too boring. What is NOT boring is this great story about comedian Redd Foxx - best known for his stint as Fred Sanford on the hit 70's comedy series Sanford & Son. His drinking escapades in Vegas are legendary. Enjoy...

https://www.newsfromme.com/pov/col097-2/

[vreihen16]

Does having a vertigo attack at 2 AM Friday morning and falling face-first into my recliner count?

As the oldest child of an abusive alcoholic parent, I have never touched a drop in my life and have zero, make that negative desire to drink. Even my wedding toast was apple juice and seltzer. They did a champagne toast at my retirement party yesterday, and I toasted with a plastic cup of water. Didn't even dump out the commemorative champagne glass to take as a souvenir.

As far as I'm concerned, the only historical reason for alcohol in beverages was as a disinfectant before modern water treatment procedures were developed a century ago.....

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Llarry

I have never done tequila.

While I stopped drinking anything alcoholic a couple of years ago -- nothing dramatic, just quit -- I had a bad experience at age 19-20 with Southern Comfort. I do not remember what I mixed it with, but it ended up being a sweet and potent mix. I was in the middle of having a good time when it hit me. Bad hangover. Never again, I said.

I stopped last January. Lost 14 lbs. and BP went down a few points. Mostly
drank white wine plus a beer every now and then. I didn’t quit to lose weight,
although that was a nice side-effect. I quit because my last lab test showed
elevated liver enzymes. Not terrible, but just above the normal zone. When
I see a trend, I try to make adjustments.

[UncleWede]

Sophomore in high school. Friday Night of senior class play, my honors English class did a satire. My classmate has a party at her house
Her dad walks out, pulls out a new bottle of 151, pour 4 drinks then leaves it on the counter with the admonishment “this is for the adults”
Shimmy up my pants, “I’m an adult!”
Somebody poured my on the front porch and rang my door bell…
Monday morning I was still hung over at school. My other friends dad who had gone thru aversion therapy came by to tell me he knew how I felt

[M5Rick]

Never been drunk in my life Llarry

[Watching The World Burn]

I recall two stories:

1. I was a coop student working at Deloitte in the international tax division and I am certain my manager was an alcoholic. Every Friday night he, another manager (who also was likely an alcoholic) and our team would go to the pub down the street and eat wings and drink pints. Proper pints, not the American kind which isn't a pint. As a side note, I've never understood why in the land of "super size me" that you would choose to sell beer in smaller quantities than here in Canada, but whatever. One of these Friday nights I figured maybe I'd stick around a little longer with them, because usually the two managers would stay around while the rest of us left after having our dinner and 2-3 pints. So about 6 pints in, I'm done, they still look as fresh as daisies and I decide to go home. No idea how much longer they stayed around drinking. I vaguely remember getting onto the subway, sort of remember getting off at one of the stations to throw up in the garbage bin and then get back on the subway, but have no recollection of how I got home. I roll back into the office the next morning on the Saturday at around 9:15am or so and they're both there, again, looking bright eyed and bushy tailed. I hated their guts that day.

2. The only time I was black out drunk and also the last time because the next day was awful. Told myself that wouldn't happen again and it hasn't, and won't. I just found out I passed my CPA exams which was a major milestone so Deloitte was throwing a party for all the successful writers, rented out a big bar downtown as a private event. You got X number of free tickets for drinks, but everyone was either buying or giving some of their tickets to successful writers, so it was essentially open bar for me. I knew this was going to be bad, so I took two buddies that didn't write and told them they were responsible for getting me home. I naturally got my hands on many more tickets than I was initially allotted. By their estimate, I think I had about 14+ drinks that evening and still had a row of tickets in my hand. I honestly was black out though, I don't have any recollection of the party after the first hour or so. Apparently when we were leaving, I started walking towards a car to take a piss by it...I guess I made my intentions clear enough because my buddies grabbed me and spun me in a different direction to walk because the car I was going for was a police car...with officers inside. That would not have been good. They got me home though, and I was sharing my apartment with my younger brother who was killing himself laughing at my state and was all too happy to give me a few more drinks. Only problem was, instead of the cheap stuff, he grabs the Johnnie Walker Blue whiskey and starts pouring it for me. Would have preferred not to be drinking the $200/bottle stuff in the state I was in, but whatever. The next morning and all day was honestly the roughest I've ever been in. I don't know what alcohol poisoning feels like, but wouldn't be surprised if that was what it was. I couldn't eat or do anything but sit on the couch with some water trying to keep that down and was just miserable. Couldn't eat anything until dinner and even then it was some dry toast. That was the last time for me. I still drink, but keep it way under the limit...might have a bottle of wine over a night if I'm doing a steak dinner and a cigar or something, but otherwise, usually only have a drink on weekends and cap it around 3-4 drinks in a day.

[Llarry]

Speaking of "blacking out" reminds me of an incident from 1973 when another sailor and I went from our duty station in Okinawa on leave to Taiwan. Taiwan was still very much a Third World country at the time and the cost of our 10 day or so trip was minimal.

It seemed, though, that we would practically drink ourselves into oblivion each evening. A couple of days in, I remarked that the hangovers were getting a bit old and my companion suggested I switch to drinking Scotch whiskey. I did so and the hangovers were indeed not as bad.

But one night we stayed out basically all-night drinking and by the time we returned to our hotel I was very, very drunk. I basically passed out on my bed and then in the middle of the night awoke to a severe earthquake. In my still drunken state, I thought to move under a doorway or something and then realized that the "earthquake" was all between my ears. I fell back into bed and to sleep. I suppose the next morning I was hung over on Scotch.

[erickonphoenix]

I drink consistently but rarely go overboard. Alcohol (esp beer) has always had a limiting effect as, at some point I just get tired and go to sleep.

I'll share this, I once met a woman at a bar and we went back to her place. I'd had one too many so I apologized and went right to sleep. Next morning I woke up to this woman screaming "who are you and why are you in my house!". Thank god we didn't do anything so she quickly sorted out what happened. In spite of appearing tipsy but otherwise functional she had completely blacked out.

[UncleWede]

Countdown at The Graduate, UCSB, circa 1986/7 after Fall finals. At 4:00, it's 5/1. At 5:00 it's 4/1. . . .
I couldn't drink margaritas, too much sugar, so they brought me margaritas with no slush (aka Jose shots in a glass)
Somehow made it back to my dorm, puked all over. Next day my roommate's parents where arriving to take him home, he met them downstairs in the lobby because I was still sick. About every hour I would throw up again.
Ended up in the ER, severely dehydrated. Dr. asks what I was drinking, and I said "Tequi -huhh, tequ-huhhhhh", puke all over the trash can. Dr. laughs and says "you can't even say it?" I blurt out "Tequila, but it must be at the hour mark."
Turns out I burned the lining of my stomach. They gave me some injection to reduce the sensitivity, then start to send me out. I nearly pass out in the exit area and they bring me back for another bag of saline (3 total).

Over break, I research enzymatic cleaners to disinfect our room. They don't work so well 2 weeks after the puke hits the carpet, but eventually I got used to it.

[hubbahubba]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

Countdown at The Graduate, UCSB, circa 1986/7 after Fall finals. At 4:00, it's 5/1. At 5:00 it's 4/1. . . .
I couldn't drink margaritas, too much sugar, so they brought me margaritas with no slush (aka Jose shots in a glass)
Somehow made it back to my dorm, puked all over. Next day my roommate's parents where arriving to take him home, he met them downstairs in the lobby because I was still sick. About every hour I would throw up again.
Ended up in the ER, severely dehydrated. Dr. asks what I was drinking, and I said "Tequi -huhh, tequ-huhhhhh", puke all over the trash can. Dr. laughs and says "you can't even say it?" I blurt out "Tequila, but it must be at the hour mark."
Turns out I burned the lining of my stomach. They gave me some injection to reduce the sensitivity, then start to send me out. I nearly pass out in the exit area and they bring me back for another bag of saline (3 total).

Over break, I research enzymatic cleaners to disinfect our room. They don't work so well 2 weeks after the puke hits the carpet, but eventually I got used to it.

Ah, The Graduate. Brings back some good memories! I went to Westmont College in Montecito, and we would occasionally head that way for a little party. Good times. Also, same timeline as you. Was the place to be!