Funny Concurrence

Since I've not been drinking for about two months, my fiance also has not been drinking too much.   When I was drinking previous to that, so was she--she never drank quite as much as me because she's much smaller, but she did drink consistently (every day), and it become routine that we pack on an extra 300-900 (or more) calories a day in alcohol.  Very very easy to do this, and to become used to it, and probably, for a good chunk of the population, to stick to lower levels of consumption, similar to the use of coffee.  The tendency to abuse coffee is out there, and does happen, but after a few huge cups, you generally don't need to drink more than that--if you've ever had too much caffeine, you know that alertness does indeed stop at some point of ingestion.  You can only be so alert before you become shaky and cranky.  There aren't exactly coffee binge parties happening at frat houses either.

Anyway, to disabuse one point.  If I can force myself to feel comfortable at a social gathering (a bit of an oxymoron, force), and get over the first 20 minutes, then I relax as much as the drinkers around me, but maintain acuity.  I may even be more comfortable throughout the night when not drinking, not because I'm always conscious of the drink in my hand, but because alcohol, like coffee, has a bit of a limit too: once you exceed a certain amount you slide right pass socially lubricated to downright sloppy.  The main issue for me, and for a fair percentage of folks, is that the decision to stay in the socially lubricated stage is made when you're already there, and not when sober, so it easy to get sloppier, and then, if you're not aware of it, you know, enter a little place of your own.