Yeah, without a doubt. I'd say that alcohol is a much bigger threat than analogs or PVs. I remember when I was 17 I got a bad case of the alcohol poisoning. I was fine, but it wasn't good. I didn't have to go to the doctor or anything, but it was still bad. Well, my grandmother wanted to take me to the doctor but I was all like no no no no.
Superstargoddess: My DH nearly died from alcohol poisoning. He went to the beach with a bunch of his friends. They stayed at one of the friend's house. (It was her and her husband's summer place) They were all drinking, having a good time, and partying and then DH went down and nobody could wake him up. Next thing anyone knew the ambulance had to come get him. He nearly died from drinking too much bourbon not to mention the fact he is a juvenile diabetic; however, like me during those years, both of us were heavy drinkers so it wasn't unusual for him or me (we traveled in different circles at that time) to drink more than many of our friends.
His mother had to come get him from the hospital but they couldn't release him for about 3 days until his alcohol levels came down to normal and his sugar levels returned to normal. His mother is a retired nurse so you can imagine the argument that took place over that 2-hour ride.
Personally, I would rather have had a total outright beating by my birth father than to have to handle his mother after something such as that and my birth father was an angry, physically abusive alcoholic. He didn't care where he hit, what he used to hit, or how long he hit as long as he was hitting someone, which was usually me b/c my mother was usually working opposite of him so my younger sibling and I caught the brunt of his rage although when he started on my brother I would do whatever it took to piss him off enough to forget about going after my brother so he would come after me instead. My baby brother would never have survived the beatings I took... Never. He'd have likely killed himself first. I'm sure of it.
Now my aunt (mother's oldest sister) has got in my face when caught drinking underage, which I did with a fair degree of regularity. For me, it was an escape. It was the only time I could reach the point where I felt nothing; I was numb. It was better than the pain, the hate, and even the disappointment and shame I felt all the other times when I was sober.
What bugs me the most is that it is almost easier for a kid to get hold of alcohol than it is for them to get cigarettes although, depending on the kid (I was one of them) getting hold of either/or or both was never a problem.
During Bush's term when his underage twin daughters were going out drinking illegally used to piss me off. Those two had presidential security guards yet why didn't they yank their little a$$es out of those nightclubs and drag their butts home instead of just standing there like a lump on a log letting them get slobbered down drunk where it was captured on television for all the teen America to see and look up to doing.
It gave the message that if the president's kids could do it then it must be okay so we can do it. That just royally ticked me off.
DH and I have been open with both our girls over alcohol. If they question it or want to taste it we are not above letting them. Usually they make this ugly face because we don't drink many fruity-type drinks - at least not at home or around the holidays when among family. Like for me, I'll throw together a Gibson every now and again or have a glass of red wine and DH usually drinks a Tom Collins or a glass of red wine. (Gibson is like a martini only it has vermouth and gin with onions as garnish vs olives). My girls thinks Gibsons are gross. They think the same of their dad's Tom Collins and only just within the last year has my oldest, whose almost 22 years old, has just got to the point where she can appreciate a fine wine with a meal - not the cheap stuff, which tastes like rot gut but a nice wine served with a meal. It's taken time but now she realizes that wine is not something to get drunk on. Each type of wine can and often does compliment a meal especially if you know how to match a specific wine with a specific dish, which I do.
I hope my youngest does like her oldest sister and hates the taste of alcohol until she's old enough to learn to appreciate it without abusing it. She never went to the beer blasts. To be honest, my oldest hates beer. I hate domestic beer. DH calls me a snob but if it isn't imported, I don't drink it. LOL.
On nights when both the girls are gone and the spa is filled and ready, he will stop by to pick up 2 six-packs of beer. He can't get just one b/c he doesn't like import and I don't like domestic so he buys one of each. Usually we go through 2 to 3 bottles each over a course of a few hours kicked back in the hot tub with the bubbles going, music playing in the background, and just the spa lights on low in the bottom of the tub. (It's inside in a wet room so we don't have to worry about neighbors. There's a window but it has a layer of that material on it that makes it so you can't see through the window even though the window has a nice set of drapes with matching sheers under it and two huge matching art prints (30 x 40 give or take; they are big & they are Cuban art work) to go with the drapes, the linoleum, and one day I'll have a freaking palm tree or coffee tree in that room. I have a small tree in the room now along with a few tables with decorations to make it look nice. There's a huge cabinet that holds the chemicals and stuff but it also has hooks to hold robes and towels.
The spa time is about the only time we get to wind down together without kids so we can feel like a husband and wife not a worn down daddy and mommy. Unfortunately we haven't been able to use it since DH had those 2 heart attacks that caused him to have the quadruple bypass. It will be some time before the docs will release him to use the hot tub and even then I'll have to turn the heat way back. I had to do the same thing when my oldest was doing her physical therapy in the spa after she was t-boned in the driver's side door. She has a heart condition too. If the water is too hot, usually above 100 degrees, it can cause her heart to beat irregularly and cause tachy that can lead to a heart attack. It has to be down around 97 to 98. I keep it at 102 when I'm in the tub alone. It has a cool down seat though. That help keep either of them from getting too hot.
I used the money I got from selling some rental property I owned to buy the hydrotherapy spa to do physical therapy in for myself with the lupus and Sjogren's with the joint disease. It's also a medical tax write off because my doc prescribed it since I can't travel to the health center, I can't run because of the pressure on my joints, I can't job either. Walking is tough here because of high heat and higher humidity. The spa was the one thing I could do and it's great in the winter when your frozen to the core of your being.
