PRIDE and GLORY

When I was still a young child, I perceived those who drink alcohol as bad people. Probably that’s the way Asian educate their children. Being brought up in my small family, none in my family is a heavy drinker. We only contact with alcohol when it is Chinese New Year. A special festive where olden Chinese celebrate the moment of harvesting in the fields. Now, we celebrate it as a tradition or a continuation of culture. Even at this very joyful season, we (me and my siblings) just manage to taste a little alcohol of 1% in a beverage called “ANGLIA SHANDY”. It’s a refreshing blend of lemonade and beers.

Slowly, as I stepped into university life, I had (being forced to) learned how to drink alcohol. This is when I have to deal with people from all walks of life. Being a committee of a society, I have to deal with sponsors, partners, etc. However, I still can’t handle it when the volume is excessive. As beginner, the first two alcohols I met up with in university life are “HEINEKEN” and “CARLSBERG”. Though being bottled up attractively, it’s still cause my social life to be miserable. Why we have to know the art of drinking all these alcohol?
My eldest brother told me that cigarettes and alcohols are just the same. It’s a tool of socializing and making business. To those who are in business or corporate world, it helps to reduce their stresses and provide them with the sense of fantasy. When you share the same fantasy as your partners, customers, clients, or whoever, you manage to enter their heart and things go easier. However, it also depends largely on how you communicate after making them “drunk”. My friend told me other fact which leads to alcohol consuming. He said that it’s normal to drink alcohol when the atmosphere and place is right. He added that it’s too bad (or even consider as rude) if we choose not to drink while all of others are drinking. “OMG, is that so?”

Well, no matter how I still have to learn on controlling my own affordable volume. Another friend of mine taught me few skills. First, raise your alcohol cup and pretend that you are drinking it whenever other parties start pouring it. This ensures that your cup is not being top up all the time. Second, only drink once whenever there’s a toast. This ensure that your alcohol level remain the same after a “long-drink”. Third, when there’s no choice where your cup has to be topped up, add more ice into your cup.

Despite of all these alcohol stories, we still need to know and be aware of the consequences of over-consuming alcoholic drinks. And does it really release your stress and reduce tension? Or it’s just our own “placebo” effect all this time? It might lead us into subconscious condition perhaps, but definitely not into a fantasy world. Beware of the temptation to addiction effect!