Whether we’re drinking to remember or to forget, there’s no shortage of alcohol from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, as author Sarah Hepola details in a recent piece on NPR’s ‘Fresh Air.’
At your work holiday party talking with your cube mate about your upcoming travel plans? Beer me, helps cut the tension. Aunt Barbara incessantly asking about your love life at the family gathering? Whiskey, neat. But sometimes things go too far and you wake up the next morning with a headache that could slay a walrus and having to answer questions like “How are you feeling today?” or being reminded of what an unstoppable force you were on the dance floor, even if all that booze had done its best to make you forget.
As socially acceptable as it already is, drinking seems to become even more so during the holiday season, which can not only create opportunities for us to make fools of ourselves in front of family, friends, and/or supervisors, but can also alienate those who choose not to partake. If you don’t drink, you can be seen as boring or un-fun. Yet little consideration is given to those who don’t drink, despite the fact that many hosts will go out of their way to accommodate someone who is vegetarian or gluten-free.
What’s your personal policy when it comes to drinking at the holidays? Are you able to moderate yourself or do you have to abstain because it’s either go all-out or don’t drink at all? If you don’t drink, do you feel alienated because of it?