In My Humble Opinion: Drink, also known as "BOOOOOOOOOOZZZZEEEEEE! WHYYYYYYY?"

Okay, I am not of the school of thought that says that you cannot have Food without Drink. Nor am I of the school of thought that thinks that Drink is only for the purposes of getting drunk. I am most notably of the school of thought that says that Drink is like any other food/ingredient that should not be over indulged terribly often.

Think of it like Butter or Lard, both worthy ingredients that should be eaten and occasionally indulged in, but not the kind of thing that you want to consume in large quantities all the time unless you're in a situation where you can't get access to it regularly. I am not against the practice of occasional indulgence that leads a person to ordering an occasional buttery croissant to go with their Café-au-lait with extra whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. However, if that's the kind of thing you consume EVERY morning...doesn't it take the magic out of it? I feel that this same principle can be applied toward drinking. I can understand enjoying a nice beer after a hard days work, but I feel that having a beer every day gets you too used to it, which I think destroys the idea itself. You have that beer because it's a special experience that you have as a kind of mental support/reinforcement reward. I see it as an aesthetic accompaniment to what you eat, rarely something to be enjoyed on it's own. Unless it's something special, unless you keep that fifty year old brandy, unless you have that carefully stored Don Peringion, unless you have that one artisan brewed beer, to me it's best an addition to a meal.

Even so, this leads to one of my few pundit-like stances that I will not stand down from: life is too short to settle for crappy booze. I'm a proud Canadian, but I don't drink Molson's Canadian, Why? Because it is Shit! Merde! Schise! Merda! Mierda! Дерьмо! compared to the nice beer that is made in more local breweries. Hell, even compared to the beer made in some of our national chains (Sleeman's). You will never find me willingly drinking what I know to be an inferior tasting beer. People don't willingly drink sub-standard rotgut wine, why should you hold the same kind of standard to your beer?

Adolecents and Adults have tried to convince me of one particular case: If you're going to get wasted why spend the extra money? I have a question for them: Why would I want to get violently ill by drinking good beer? In all honesty I don't wish to get wasted often, I don't particularly feel the need to get particularly drunk very often, I enjoy the mild buzz I receive after a few drinks but I feel that is the extent of my interest most of the time I'm casually drinking. I just don't see the complete appeal in getting drunk for no better reason than the need for entertainment at the cost of your liver.

Why am I talking about reasons to drink more than the Aesthetics of drinking? Because I don't think this issue has been addressed adequately. As a general rule, drink is talked about with the assumption that the people drinking it only care about the taste and will appreciate the more esoteric aspects of the wine or beer. Sorry Chums! Fat Bloody Chance! These people do exist, but on the whole as a culture these things really aren't being hammered into us. It's assumed that we'll learn, but for many people they don't! That's what bothers me.

Personally there are four occasions where I will allow myself to drink to excess: Celebrating a birth, Honouring the dead, Celebrating a wedding, or saying goodbye for a long time. Even then I may not drink very much. If the Drink is not a part of the meal, I just drink enough to be more sociable, that's it, for two reasons: 1) I like being in control, and 2) I actually like enjoying the taste. Bare this in mind.