|
Had sips of wine at home starting from age 5, but it was only during social occasions and more to get attention from adults than anything (encouraged by my parents).
Did not have much of anything after that, until I was 19 and dating a semi-"bad boy" during my evangelical years. My first real drink was a shot of aquavit (Norwegian nasty shit) at his family's annual Christmas smorgasbord party... done solely to impress the audience. And then his mom (knowing my age) followed that up by giving me several glasses of wine and then Bailey's. Not surprisingly, I got pretty drunk. I had some beers on the following New Year's Eve, which I asked him to buy me (again, attempting to impress), but that produced no drunkenness. I was not a fan of alcohol during any of this time... and did not drink anything again until my 21st birthday, and then went full-throttle for a few years, until the blackouts happened too often.
Drinking age: well, here in Iceland, the age is 20 and people start when they're probably 14 or so. I would say that this nation has a serious problem with alcohol, European or not. People binge (and ONLY binge) well into their 30s and 40s... I only know of a few families who are the "wine with dinner" types. I see this as a mainly Scandinavian problem, however, and does not extend to the rest of Europe.
One fantastic thing about the Nordic countries, though, is that they're very serious about their enforcement against drunk driving... and kids get their licenses very late here, too, so that's just not really a problem. No one messes with the drunk driving laws... the consequences are too high. Everyone takes taxis when they're going out, period. I've never seen a similarly serious approach in America--might do people some good to have MUCH stricter blood-alcohol laws, and a visible police presence in areas known for drunk driving.
__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran
|