Intoxication

_{Photo by Charles "Duck" Unitas}

I think the first time I had a good feel of what alcohol was, was at my uncle's wedding. I had seen one of my aunt drinking this drink out of a can. You know one of those cans that just looking at it, you know whatever drink is in it will be good, not because you've had it before, but because of its beautiful design.

So I had approached the woman and asked her to surrender her drink to me. She did, but not before she drank almost all of it and gave me just a little bit. I was very little then so even the little she had given to me was more than enough to make me sleep throughout the journey back home from the wedding. That was my first time.

You see, I've never really been a fan of alcohol. I remember before she stopped, my mom used to sell beer at her shop and there had been a day when this customer had emptied a bottle of small stout right in my presence. The way the man drank it, one would have thought he was drinking maltina or some soda. So I decided to do something every little kid my age would do, I decided to satisfy my curiosity.

After the man had left, I had gone to have a little taste of the leftover small stout in his bottle. I remember it had been so bitter that I didn't really have a name for it back then, but now that I'm older, I'm one hundred percent sure it tasted nothing different from heartbreak mixed with sadness. I have no doubt in my mind that man was seriously going through some serious hard time to have drank that whole thing that fast.

But seriously though, I've always wondered why people take alcohol. Now I'm no saints, I have taken alcohol, but I think it's mostly due to peer pressure because the only time I do drink is when I'm in the midst of my friends, celebrating something and all they got on the table is just alcohol. So I just take a few sips not to look like the judas or something like that.

Like my dad will always say, if I was the reason they made alcohol, the companies would definitely close down due to lack of sales. Lol.

But I'm still curious though, why do people take alcohol, it's always bitter and sad and I honestly find it crazy that there are people out there who would fight you just for a bottle of beer. Is there something I'm missing, a bigger picture that I'm blind to, what is it?