When I was young I admit that there were times when it was experimental drinking with pals but paid the price by being awfully sick the ceiling spinning and feeling not as grown-up as I thought I was. That was punishment enough. A couple of times I had got it wrong by mixing drinks or drinking on an empty stomach but learnt the hard way. In the 90's and in the beginning of the Noughties I had a new freedom I was divorced and with that freedom came festivals. Living on the Isle of Wight the culture which is based around drink mostly beer or cider which be had any day at any time including the home brewed stuff, the employment situation is bad but the friends I'd made there still found a way to drink. When I moved back to mainland UK I found that alcohol abuse was around there too but in a different way. The ladette culture was encouraging women that it was alright to go out with the girls and get hammered and countless pubs prommoting 'Happy Hours' two drinks for the price of one popped up everywhere. I am glad to say that this has never appealed to me and now enjoy only like the odd glass of wine or three at the end of the working week with a meal rather than drinking for the sake of it or a rural pub garden with family. Even then I restrict it to two pints of beer or two glasses of wine now. Sometimes if I forget to buy a bottle it doesn't bother me at all to have none. The thing with drink it's like all addictive things it temporarily blots out the reality of life for a while but the problem remains whether high, drunk or sober. I do know an alcoholic a close friend of mine from the Island and I see how he suffers with the shakes and sweats but there is nothing I can do or say. He is the kindest nicest person luckily not a violent one but he cannot go without a morning hit. It is one of the reasons why although I love him I am afraid to get too close or advise him to stop because it just would not work in his case.