queerbychoice | Drunk People

I don't like drunk people! I do not like drunk people at allllllllll. DRUNK PEOPLE ANNOY THE HELL OUT OF ME. They repeat every single sentence no less than ten times in a row, often twenty, because they just automatically assume that everyone they're with is just as mentally impaired as they are and therefore cannot understand a simple sentence until it has been repeated at least ten times. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that whoever invented the phrase "bored to tears" was inspired to invent it by being stuck in the company of a drunk person.

I do not permit my friends to drink alcohol in front of me. I tell them that if they take a sip of alcohol I am leaving. I will not go to any social function at which alcohol is present. I will not allow alcohol into my residence. If you sign onto AIM drunk and try to talk to me, I will very likely sign off immediately, unless there are other people I'm trying to talk to so I can't leave, in which case I will merely find you to be acting distressingly stupid, and I will very likely tell you so.

I do not like drunk people. Perhaps if I repeat this sentence enough times in one journal entry even the drunk people will figure out what I'm saying? I try very hard to structure my life in such a way that I never have to come into contact with anyone during the time periods when they are choosing to be drunk. Sensible people are able to work with me on this. I'm not trying to take away their alcohol; it's just that alcohol and I are sworn lifelong enemies so if you want to carry on relationships with both of us at the same time, you're just going to have to have the good sense to never invite us over at the same time as one another. Most people are able to accept those terms. Just not my parents.

I've already threatened never to visit them again. That caused them to invite the alcohol and me over on separate days for a while. But now it's somehow slid back toward the old ways of doing things. It isn't like my father drinks alcohol at dinner every day of the year either. He drinks it mainly on special occasions. It's just that "special occasions" happens to be very inconveniently defined as "whenever Cynthia visits." HELLO, I WOULD LIKE YOU A WHOLE LOT BETTER IF I EVER GOT TO CONVERSE WITH YOU WITHOUT YOUR BRAIN FUNCTIONING IMPAIRED.

I feel like I've just spent the whole evening with a bunch of poison oak leaves rubbing against the surface of my brain.

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I wish I was as adamant as you are. I'm already adamant about drunkenness, but don't completely forbid alcohol -- since I personally drink the stuff, but only in rather *severe* moderation (I've never been drunk in my entire life, which is nearly 40 years now). My alcoholic-prone family and relatives taught me at a young age to like the taste of the alcohol itself. So it's like sugar or any other substance that I shouldn't overdo now; it's yummy, but I know when to say when (I'm better about alcohol than sugar, though).

However, I've never been fully adamant about alcohol around family members. I don't feel that I can reasonably stand my ground without being shut out. But, maybe, I should make an attempt (I've already succeeded about being around smoking).

I *really* hate, hate, hate being around drunk people, as I'm often reminded around these holiday times. Ick, ick, ICK! Perhaps I'll have to institute a 1 or 2 drink rule, and not waver from that. Ever. Ick! Drunk people are only funny to themselves; they sadden and depress me. Oh, and that damned repetition! Repeating, repeating, repeating. Oh, and that damned repetition! Bleah!!! Oversentimental, paranoid, creepy, creeeeeeepy. Enough!!!

1. Having a drink and being drunk are two entirely different things.

2. "I do not permit my friends to drink alcohol in front of me. I tell them that if they take a sip of alcohol I am leaving."

Histrionics. It's what's for dinner.

If you try to tell a drunk person you don't wish to be around them when they are drunk to the point of acting stupid and annoying, they will instantly claim they are not drunk nor acting stupid and annoying. If you tell them you don't wish to be around them when they are consuming alcohol, that is a clear borderline which they can understand, and it also gives them the comfort of being able to tell themselves that my intolerance is the problem rather than their stupidity. This is a concession to spare their ego which I am willing to make since it seems to help get me what I want.

There are a few people, and my mother is one of them, who usually do not consume alcohol to the point of ever becoming really annoying to me. But if I made concessions for her, everybody else would just take that as a sign of my weakness and ability to be pushed around. I prefer to keep my borderlines far more clearly established.

And if you don't like it, nobody will ever force you to eat dinner with me.

Gayle.

I was poking fun. JOKE! LAUGH!

Of course, I'm a recovering alcoholic, so.

I do not permit my friends to drink alcohol in front of me. I tell them that if they take a sip of alcohol I am leaving.

i can totally understand not liking drunk people. i'm not a huge fan of them either. however.

the above seems a little bit much to me. a sip of alcohol? so, no glass of wine with dinner for anyone who eats dinner with you? i'm sorry you've had such negative experiences with alcohol that a sip equates to drunkenness for you, but this equates to reactionary in the opposite direction, imo.

i can understand not permitting alcohol in your house, but not permitting your friends to drink it in your sight seems awfully controlling. there is a pretty clear line (for most people, not for all) between a casual drink and drunkenness; it would seem to me that if you explained to your friends how you feel about it, that they might understand and respect your wishes, and maybe you wouldn't have to leave when someone decides to have a beer or a glass of wine.

i wish you luck with this policy .. to each eir own, i guess.

Putting alcohol in front of my father and then trying to get him to STOP drinking it before finishing the entire bottle would signify a great deal more stupidity than I possess. There would be absolutely ZERO chance of that policy working. Asking my mother to just not invite me when alcohol is going to be present has a chance of actually working.

Alcohol is a poison. It functions to impair people's brain functioning and then if you drink enough of it, it also functions to kill you. Certainly it's possible to not drink enough to kill you, and also possible to not drink enough to visibly impair your brain functioning. It's possible to do the same with cyanide. But why would anyone want to? Personally, I would just find it plain disturbing if I kept getting invited over to watch people ingest amounts of cyanide that were insufficient to have any actual effect on them. I'd want to know why the hell they were doing that, and if they couldn't give me any sort of answer that made any sense to me, I would ask them to just kindly stop inviting me over to watch it.

It sounds like your issue is primarily with alcoholism. Understandable, given what you've related here. I have to admit though, as the ex-spouse of an alcoholic, I have no problems with occasional social drinking, and certainly wine with dinner does not raise my blood pressure, even though I rarely indulge. Drinking *can* lead to being stupid-drunk, but it doesn't ever need to---and for most people, it never does.

Funny then, that 98% of all the people I've ever seen get drunk get annoyingly stupid every time. Perhaps the level of stupidity which is sufficent to annoy you is rather higher than the level which is sufficient to annoy me.

Or you have less-mature associates, perhaps? ;-)

This is a joke, by-the-by. I have no idea about the folks you hang out with. But I'd agree with your impression that I'm probably more tolerant than you. :-)

I can understand where you're coming from. Even if I couldn't, I'd still say you're welcome to your opinion. But

They repeat every single sentence no less than ten times in a row, often twenty, because they just automatically assume that everyone they're with is just as mentally impaired as they are and therefore cannot understand a simple sentence until it has been repeated at least ten times.

speaking only for myself, the times that I've been less than coherent, whether due to alcohol or semi conciousness (as when falling asleep or first waking up), I've been apt to repeat myself not because I think no one else can understand a simple sentence, but because I didn't think I was stating it clearly the first or second time.

But then again, I talk quickly and often stumble over my words when sober.

Drunk People

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I'm with you

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