Lauren is back and has a mind-altering topic this week. I’m afraid you will find I was a boring teen, but let’s move on. Head over to her blog to read the rules and join in.
This week’s prompt is: Suds, Buds, and Vino
1) Did you grow up in a family that had beer or wine at family meals? Were either beverages part of your parent’s “relaxation” time?
When we lived in the Valley, I was aware of alcohol from a distance. My grandfather made his own wine and stored it in huge glass bottles in the cellar. I was grossed out from the look of it because it was dusty and a bit crusty looking as if it had been there a long, long time. I never recall him drinking it, but I do have a vague memory of tasting it once and I found it utterly disgusting.
My grandmother was opposed to alcohol and she was adamant about no one bringing it in her house. The only one that ignored her wishes was her brother and I remember how much that upset her. Looking back, I believe my great uncle was an alchoholic.
In my high school years, my Dad had a Beer Meister Kegerator on the back porch, but It was not used that much that I remember. My parents drank cocktails when they went out and we did have alchohol in the house, but it was never part of our family meals.
My father would give me a shot of whiskey if I had bad menstrual cramps, and my mom insisted I taste her cocktails. She said she wanted me to recognize the taste in case anyone ever tried to slip something in my drink.
2) Was wine consumed as part of religious or family celebrations? If so, when?
No.
3) Were you allowed to have a “sip” of the adult beverages?
My father would give me a shot of whiskey if I had bad menstrual cramps, and my mom insisted I taste her cocktails when she had them. She said she wanted me to recognize the taste in case anyone ever tried to slip something in my drink.
I was aware of all the mixed drink names, so they must have at least been discussed. (Tom Collins, 7 and 7, Gin and Tonic, Whiskey Sour, Rum and Coke, Old Fasioned, Daquiri – all the classic 50s and 60s cocktails.)
4) When you were a teenager did it bother you that your parents had one set of behaviors, yet you were expected to have another?
Not at all. I hated the taste of all of it, so there was no temptation for me.
5) When you were in high school, did you or your friends drink alcohol? If you were underaged, how did you acquire the booze?
No. If any of my peers drank, I was oblivious to the fact.
6) Were you offered marijuana or other drugs while in high school? If you chose to partake, did it get you into trouble, or were you never caught?
No, again, my crowd was rather tame. I spent all my free time with band activities so I may have just been in the dark.
7) Did you ever get too drunk or too high to function? How did your body react to that?
I never really drank until I was in the Air Force. We would go to the Airmen’s club and order pitchers of beer for the table. Someone would pour me a glass and at the end of the night, the same glass of beer was still there, untouched.
We often hung out outside the dorms on a blanket when off duty. Those were the days of Boone’s Farm, Annie Green Springs, Ripple, and MD 20/20.
I did drink too much at a party one night. Thankfully, I had good friends that watched after me. I went to another party off base one night. Someone had rented a motel room. There was pot there that night, but I declined. To this day I still have never even heard tried it. My first roommate in the Air Force smoked in our dorm room frequently. She broke all the rules. I was thankful when I was able to change rooms. Our personalities did not mesh.
8) Have your opinions about taking drugs and drinking alcohol changed over time? Are you more conservative or more liberal than you were in your youth?
I drink an occasional glass of good red wine and once in a while a nice cold beer. We do have some liquor in the house, but it has probably been here untouched for years. I used to like Bailey’s in my coffee, and occasionally, a Margarita.
I am pretty conservative. I have many negative memories watching people I loved destroy their lives with drugs and alchohol and ‘harmless’ drugs.
9) If applicable, did you raise your children with the same beliefs that you grew up with?
It was not a frequent thing in our house, so I am not sure there was too much discussion about it. I shudder to think of the level of things out there for kids to experiment with these days. Thankfully, my children are pretty conservative in their consumption and focused on their families.
10) If you had any input over alcohol or marijuana laws would you change them?
I have opinions, but I am not sure I am knowledgeable enough to make decisions for the whole of society. There is amazing ongoing research related to certain hallucinogenics. I think drugs proven as having medicinal uses should be available to those that need them.
fromcavewalls.wordpress.com 