Successful night tonight, my chums. Very lovely to have unlocked a new level in life of going out with non-drinking male friends. Difficult to convey the alcohol culture in the UK, but you're basically indoctrinated into going out with your mates and getting annihilated on alcohol and that's essentially your whole social and personal relationships. Unsurprisingly this has a knock on effect to many other areas of your lives. Culturally it's not terribly healthy. So I'm thrilled to have discovered going out on a Saturday night to a shisha joint and just banging a load of sparkling water, tea, a bit of food and having a shisha. Also not terrifically good for you, but a far cry from drinking 8 pints and getting in fights. Had a laugh, talked about our feelings and listened to one another and came away from it validated and positive and crucially will wake up tomorrow (today) feelin' fine. Although I went slightly overboard on the sweet potato fries and hummus. Like a wildman. Men! You too can do this and still be a total double-dog alpha male. Grrr. Had so much hummus mate. You should have seen my BiL. Went mental on the shisha and had 4 cokes. We cannot be stopped. Also - we talked about our hopes and worries in a way that was supportive and nurturing. Oi oiiiiii!
@TheBreadmonkey I love this for you, Ben. 😊 Are you entering a new era?
Alcohol is necessary for alcoholism. Alcoholism harms individuals, families and communities. If you promote (and profit from) alcohol you are party to the ruin of many lives.
@TheBreadmonkey I'm exceedingly happy for you! What a terrific evening.
@TheBreadmonkey also, congrats on the new level of manly socialization. the feels! all the feels!! 🖤
@TheBreadmonkey american here who married an englishman. he himself doesn't drink, but whenever we go back to see his family i am always AMAZED at the amount of alcohol that's even just casually consumed by your compatriots. we were there for about ten days over xmas and i think i drank more during that time than i'd done all year.
lunchtime -- have a drink? back from the shops? let's sit down and have a drink. time for tea -- would you like a drink? how about a drink with dinner? after dinner? ...nightcap?
and that's just regular family life, not even close to the hardcore pub life of the average british male. or the students OMG.
@TheBreadmonkey Lovely. Also I spotted the Jamie Cullen reference.
Sooner or later, alcohol kills.
Most people that excessive drinking slowly leads to a compromised liver.
They also believe that the liver can always, as if by magic, regenerate.
Neither of those is true.
Very often, the liver just suddenly, all at once, fails.
And on that cheerful note, cheers.
Enjoy your nights out.
@TheBreadmonkey All of that caffeine that late in the night! My heavens.
@TheBreadmonkey I am an alcoholic. I know this. If a private medical company would dare check mastodon then I would be fucked. No more American-style healthcare.
But I remain convinced that maybe I am only able to socialise while slightly or very drunk.
Ergo... I am an alcoholic. I know this.
@TheBreadmonkey
That's no way to wind up peeing in an alley in the wee hours. Glad you had a blast.