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About alcohol.
I remember one case: I was sitting in the yard one summer, waiting for a friend, and then this man, about 50 years old, sat down next to me on the bench. He sat there for a while, silent, and then he started pouring his heart out to me. He told me how the government had ruined his whole life, saying directly, "the government is holding me down here" (grabbing his neck), that it was getting him drunk, getting his drunkard friends drunk, getting his neighbor Ninka drunk, that the president himself had personally signed a decree to get the Russian people drunk, and him in particular, almost pouring vodka down his throat. He was a strange guy, and I wouldn't have listened to him at all, but he spoke with such feeling and sadness, as if it were a revelation to him, and he didn't look like a completely hopeless drunk.
Well, I didn't understand his arguments, of course. I also drank sometimes with friends, but I always did it of my own free will, quite consciously and with pleasure. And that's what I told him, I said, "it all depends on you, just take it and stop drinking right now. No one is holding you back, and no one is getting you drunk, you are getting yourself drunk." After these words, he looked at me as if I were insane, with such sincere bewilderment, as if I had just turned into the president, pouring vodka into his glass. He was silent for a while, clicked his tongue, and then said that I just didn't understand anything, that I would understand when I grew up, and something else about how the government was suffocating him. Luckily, my friend showed up, and I left. And he remained there, sitting on that bench, annoyed by my words.
I could almost see him the next day, downing a drink and imagining the president in his kitchen, sitting there and pouring vodka into his glass.
This is just a lyrical digression.
After that, I learned a certain lesson for myself, and whenever I hear arguments like "we are being made to drink," I always remember that man. And this was, by the way, in the early 2000s, when there was beer in every stall, alcohol advertising everywhere, and a lot of cheap liquor was sold, and everyone ignored the law "don't sell to those under 18" (only recently has this been strictly enforced). That is, if you compare that time (10 years ago) and now, the government has definitely started to care more about our sobriety. And when you go to the store and buy a bottle of whiskey on Friday, you do it completely consciously and of your own free will.
That only weak people become alcoholics – I can't agree with that. I know many people who have already achieved certain heights in life and drink heavily, especially many of them are professors and negotiators in manufacturing and construction – no agreement can be reached without alcohol, and many people in management positions in the oil industry drink a lot.
That young people drink, well, that has always been and always will be, they drink because of hopelessness, and theoretically, one could somehow help them, get rid of their addiction or something, but they don't need it at all, they just need to sit in the kitchen with a neighbor, drink a bottle, and complain about the government. Laziness and idleness, in a word.
Yes, sometimes normal people drink, who have had some kind of trouble in life. They drink because they need to escape somewhere, it's something similar to turning to religion. But thank God, they drink and are perfectly aware that they are doing it themselves, of their own free will, methodically, simply because they can't do otherwise.
And the fact that people drink 1-2 times a week with friends, not to get drunk and riot, feeling like the master of the universe, but just to relax, to relieve a little tension from the routine – I don't see anything wrong with that. In my opinion, smoking is much more harmful to health than moderate alcohol consumption.
I remember one case: I was sitting in the yard one summer, waiting for a friend, and then this man, about 50 years old, sat down next to me on the bench. He sat there for a while, silent, and then he started pouring his heart out to me. He told me how the government had ruined his whole life, saying directly, "the government is holding me down here" (grabbing his neck), that it was getting him drunk, getting his drunkard friends drunk, getting his neighbor Ninka drunk, that the president himself had personally signed a decree to get the Russian people drunk, and him in particular, almost pouring vodka down his throat. He was a strange guy, and I wouldn't have listened to him at all, but he spoke with such feeling and sadness, as if it were a revelation to him, and he didn't look like a completely hopeless drunk.
Well, I didn't understand his arguments, of course. I also drank sometimes with friends, but I always did it of my own free will, quite consciously and with pleasure. And that's what I told him, I said, "it all depends on you, just take it and stop drinking right now. No one is holding you back, and no one is getting you drunk, you are getting yourself drunk." After these words, he looked at me as if I were insane, with such sincere bewilderment, as if I had just turned into the president, pouring vodka into his glass. He was silent for a while, clicked his tongue, and then said that I just didn't understand anything, that I would understand when I grew up, and something else about how the government was suffocating him. Luckily, my friend showed up, and I left. And he remained there, sitting on that bench, annoyed by my words.
I could almost see him the next day, downing a drink and imagining the president in his kitchen, sitting there and pouring vodka into his glass.
This is just a lyrical digression.
After that, I learned a certain lesson for myself, and whenever I hear arguments like "we are being made to drink," I always remember that man. And this was, by the way, in the early 2000s, when there was beer in every stall, alcohol advertising everywhere, and a lot of cheap liquor was sold, and everyone ignored the law "don't sell to those under 18" (only recently has this been strictly enforced). That is, if you compare that time (10 years ago) and now, the government has definitely started to care more about our sobriety. And when you go to the store and buy a bottle of whiskey on Friday, you do it completely consciously and of your own free will.
That only weak people become alcoholics – I can't agree with that. I know many people who have already achieved certain heights in life and drink heavily, especially many of them are professors and negotiators in manufacturing and construction – no agreement can be reached without alcohol, and many people in management positions in the oil industry drink a lot.
That young people drink, well, that has always been and always will be, they drink because of hopelessness, and theoretically, one could somehow help them, get rid of their addiction or something, but they don't need it at all, they just need to sit in the kitchen with a neighbor, drink a bottle, and complain about the government. Laziness and idleness, in a word.
Yes, sometimes normal people drink, who have had some kind of trouble in life. They drink because they need to escape somewhere, it's something similar to turning to religion. But thank God, they drink and are perfectly aware that they are doing it themselves, of their own free will, methodically, simply because they can't do otherwise.
And the fact that people drink 1-2 times a week with friends, not to get drunk and riot, feeling like the master of the universe, but just to relax, to relieve a little tension from the routine – I don't see anything wrong with that. In my opinion, smoking is much more harmful to health than moderate alcohol consumption.
Пусть мой враг будет силен и страшен. Если я поборю его, то не буду чувствовать стыда.