Kids, drink and smokes.

[red750]

When I was a pre-schooler, back in the late forties (damn, that was a long time ago), my parents and Dad's parents lived together in the one house on the farm. My grandfather used to sit on the verandah and enjoy a beer and a smoke, sometimes a whiskey. When I was about 4  or 5, he gave me a sip of beer. I hated the taste, and never started drinking when I grew up. He also gave me a puff of a Havelock roll-your-own. Made my vomit. Never had another smoke. Gave me a sip of whiskey, and I hated that too. To me, drinking and smoking were like eating brussel sprouts or kale. I have never regretted not touching those things, but just wondered if you think he did the right thing.

[facthunter]

He did achieve the desired? result but whether that is why he did it is another question.. The same actions may  produce a different result generally. He certainly wouldn't get ROLE MODEL of the year award.. Nev

[Marty_d]

I also tasted beer at a very young age (my best friend's dad owned a pub) and found it disgusting.  However at 17 I rediscovered it and haven't stopped since.

The French tend to give their kids a very small glass of wine on special occasions, and I don't think they have the same level of adolescent binge drinking that we see here.

Different strokes for different folks, really.

[onetrack]

I've never liked beer, but I can't recall when I first tasted it. As a result, I never drink beer. I do like an occasional whisky, but a bottle of whisky will last me at least 12 mths.

I seem to recall Dad giving me a taste of wine when I was a young teenager. Neither Dad nor Mum drank much at all, but they liked a small glass of "aperitif" wine with their dinner sometimes.

I was brought up in a religious household where pubs were deemed dens of iniquity and downfall. I have never been a pub drinker, I see little benefit in sitting on a bar stool and drinking glass after glass of alcohol, just to get some social interaction.

I only drink when I'm thirsty, and mostly tea, water or fruit juices. I did drink quite a lot of Coke when I was younger, but I rarely drink any type of soft drink today.

 

Drinking alcohol is expensive, too, and I'm amazed at the amount of money some people spend in drinking sessions.

I have known lots of people who killed themselves with excessive alcohol consumption - and that includes a sizeable number of people who lived in the country, went to the pub, got boozed up, and ran off the road into a tree, on the way home.

 

When I was about 11, I found a part packet of Turf cigarettes by the edge of the road (I was riding my bike and lived in a semi-rural area).

Puffing on fags was starting to be discussed amongst my mates as an adult thing to do, because a lot of adults smoked. So I lit up a Turf and sucked on it.

Now, it was fairly well known that Turf cigarettes were about the worst of a bad bunch, probably because they were made in East Germany. I spluttered and coughed, thought, "this is disgusting", and chucked the fag away after just a few puffs.

I could never really figure out what the attraction to cigarettes was. I guess it was the nicotine addiction, which I obviously do not suffer from. I have never smoked, and I appreciate fresh air whenever I breathe in.

 

I do believe I'm in far better health than many other people my age, and I reckon good simple food, a very light level of alcohol consumption, and not smoking, must have played a sizeable part in that.

The mechanic bloke (Greg) opposite my workshop is about 6mths younger than me, and reasonably fit. But he disappeared for a couple of weeks recently. When he returned, he didn't look well at all.

When I asked Greg where he'd been, he replied "In hospital for 2 weeks! I developed pancreatitis and it's the most painful thing I've ever endured!"

When I asked the reason behind it, he simply said, "Too many years of boozing! I have to stop drinking beer, completely, right now! It's bloody hard to get adjusted to it! But if I don't stop, the pancreatitis will only return and get worse!"

 

Edited May 19, 2021 by onetrack

[Old Koreelah]

I too hated the taste of beer as a kid, but later drank socially.

These days I have a beer on the weekend, but only if I’ve earned it. I try to keep drinking red wine for when eating cheese.

Preservatives seem to give me a headache, so I prefer the PF varieties.

 

I notice increasing numbers of my family and friends either never drank or are cutting back substantially for health reasons.

 

[red750]

My dad never drank. He would go into a pub and order a squash or a sarsaparilla. I worked a second job as drink waiter/barman at a weeding reception centre. We could have a drink at the end of the reception after the guests had left, but I drank only soft drink. The only pub I go into is my son's pub, and I haven't been there since well before the pandemic closed pubs. I go to the bistro for a meal, not the bar, and drink lemon squash. My drinks of choice are sugar zero lemonade or flavoured mineral water, coffee or iced coffee. I have a bottle of weak lemon squash beside the bed in case I get a dry mouth, or to take my tablets which must be taken at least an hour before breakfast.

[Yenn]

I badgered my father to let me smoke a cigarette and he said I could, but if I started I would have to finish it. I have never smoked since. I found beer when I was in the army and nearly became an alcoholic, but that was a long time ago and a good woman managed to divert me form drinking. now I enjoy a small wine with dinner and a stubby occasionally. I find much more enjoyment from that occasional stubbie than I could get from consuming several at a time.

[spacesailor]

Has anyone else had their doctor, prescribe a Fag for the patients health? .

It was the ' cure ' for bronchitis,  a " woodbine a day to keep the cough away ".

spacesailor

[Jerry_Atrick]

That is nuts..

 

Never smoked in my life (except for being forced to with second hand smoke). My mother used to smoke; the stench was foul; the haze was foul, everything was foul about it.. Never dated a girl who smoked, either.

 

Didn't start drinking until I was about 26; my fiancee's father was Austro-Hungarian and got me into it (I guess, he, to, needed it to dealwiht his daughter :-))

 

Enjoy a tipple today... though in my mid 30s, I revelled too much in it... Late starter, I guess.

 

 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Jerry_Atrick