Ah, the demon drink! I can't stand cider (the English version which is very alcoholic). In particular I can't stand scrumpy, which is the third pressing of the apple. When I was 13, a friend and I bought a lemonade bottle full from the local off-licence, and drank it between us. This was stuff that came out of a barrel and was poured into the bottle in front of us. It looked like antifreeze. It was a yellowy, greeny colour and opaque, with bits of apple floating in it.
I honestly thought I was dying that night, I was so ill. Since then the mere smell of any cider has made me heave.
When I was grown up I used to smoke dope rather than drink, but I found the after-effects of dope lasted around 3 days, whereas alcohol lasted just the night I drank it. So when I gave up smoking both dope and cigarettes at 30, I started drinking. Normally just lager, and I got into a rut of drinking 3 cans a night of 5% lager. That lasted for the best part of 10 years.
Then I was out of work for nearly 5 years due to illness, and obviously couldn't drink, not with a wife and 3 children to support anyway, but when I finally got back into work again, I was earning lots of money and things changed.
I was an IT contractor for 8 years, but when the contracts dried up I went permanent. However, I was made redundant from one job and ended up working for an insurance company based in the City of London. There was an expectation that everyone drank, and we all had company credit cards, so on a regular basis, we'd all adjourn to the pub for a drink, and once a month we'd all go out for an evening at a wine bar and take it in turns to put our cards over the bar. One time I drank too much red wine and ended up in hospital after I tried to get out of a taxi while it was moving.
Since then I've kept away from red wine, and now hardly drink at all. If I do have anything it will be just a G&T or an Irish Whiskey, although, when we've been to Ireland I drank Guiness and thoroughly enjoyed it.
