Meh, I was sober until well into adulthood. Big mistake. I watched all my young friends drink and have a good time and take it too far and make bad choices. My perspective as a non-drinker was that I was surrounded by idiots with poor impulse control that used booze excessively to have a good time because they couldn't have a good time any other way. I was a super Straight Edge (sXe 4 lyfe!!1!one!) dummy. The military was a lonely place for me.

The exwife turned me on to drinking (endlessly ironic) and I discovered that, with moderation, booze is totally a great time for social gatherings or by yourself. That and I'm drunk after a few beers so I doubt I'll ever reach the point of tolerance where I'm one of these guys putting back a fifth by myself on the couch. My occupation doesn't lend itself to sobriety and I don't have any friends that are "dry," but if I did I would certainly play by House Rules.

Anybody that comes over to my place can drink whatever they want whenever as long as they remain ambulatory and don't become a rowdy retard.

If I go over to your place and it's okay to drink, I won't drink as much as I normally would unless I know you real well. You can't push me to do more.

Those that were witnesses to my drunken cackling in Chicago a few weeks back know the kinda damage I'm talking about. It was brutal moderation.