Why do people go and drink when they turn 21 ?

@CrazyMusicLover In North America, we are so tight assed about drinking in some places that kids don't realize it's no big deal and it gets hyped up so much that it actually leads to overdrinking and irresponsible behaviour.

@CrazyMusicLover Typical American L

@Elessar never too young for a pickled liver

@JimboSaturn What it boils down to is, we need safer rites of passage into adulthood.

@JimboSaturn What's supremely dumb is that you could sign up to be sent to die in Iraq at 18 (or is it 16?), but don't you dare buying a beer until you're 21 🙈

@Elessar Yes I never got that. You can die for your country but can't have a beer.

@deadgerbil A glass of wine a day (not even a bottle, but let's limit it to a glass) has never killed anyone over here.

Of course, if one drinks to the point of physical collapse every day they won't live to be 30, but that's rarely ever the case at least here.

Moderation is key.

@JimboSaturn Same in Europe but at 14-15. 😬 There really are stories about kids that realized they couldn't go like that any longer at 19-20 because they noticed how it ruins their life. I mean spirits drinkers. Because I see a big difference between people who drink wine or beer, sometimes fancy mixed drinks and those who just throw in a shot after a shot or literally down a bottle.

@Elessar An Italian guy here in Canada was telling me about when he was younger and visiting his non-Italian friends' houses. He was amazed they had locked liquor cabinets. He couldn't believe it, his family drank a bit of wine every night. It was a cultural shock.

@Elessar you posted the meme of them giving up on alcohol lol implying that they're dealing with more than just a glass a day

@CrazyMusicLover Yes I started drinking when I was like 14. Not often and just beer.

@deadgerbil They got bored and moved to weed

@JimboSaturn I actually don't remember because I generally don't like alcohol much but I know that schoolmates liked to gather at certain places on Friday nights to drink around that age. Mostly 16 though, that was when I used to meet friends to smoke homemade waterpipe, which was of course impossible at commercial places. At 16 I also got drunk from wine for the first time ever at my brother's prom right next to my parents who had much fun from it. 😆 Then again few months later in the middle of the day with a friend at some hidden bar deep in city center when he invited me for Johnny Walker. 😂 When I turned 18, I used to go with friends to outdoor bars/restaurants but often couldn't order anything with alcohol because I kept forgetting my ID anyway. 😂

@CrazyMusicLover Brutal 😆

Never felt too comfortable drinking around mine. I mean if it's a glass of wine or so yeah, but whenever I drank enough I either came back after they went to sleep.. or I just went to sleep at the beach 😅

@Elessar I guess they were too busy to pay attention to the program to notice I was bored to death drinking one glass after another. On the other hand, it's not like I would need much to get drunk. 😆 It wasn't drunk DRUNK like throwing up and with a proper hangover next day, I was just dizzy.

@Elessar
Kids and teenagers are more prone to addictions. Their alcohol toxicity threshold is different than yours. The earlier a person starts drinking, the more likely they are to develop alcohol use disorder later in life. And their brain is more likely to get damaged long term and impaired. Irreversible damage.

It is not what is best for children, factually speaking.

@Miram Well my peak drinking was at 16-18, with rare exceptions after high school (i.e. starting from 19) I limit myself to a single drink/glass, once a week or even less

But even then, I seldom was drunk to the point of throwing up (because yeah it f*cking sucks).

I see Germans kids in vacation here with their family that couldn't be older than 12 already having beer.. at least I waited until 14/15 🙈

@Miram (With the notable exception of putting the finger in the bottle of grappa at my grandpa's house when I was like 8 just for the sake of tasting what was forbidden 😌)

@Elessar the military lets you drink at the legal age of the country you are in so if you want to sign up to die for your country to drink then have at it.

@JimboSaturn I have to correct myself on the "I used to meet friends to smoke homemade waterpipe, which was of course impossible at commercial places" part. 😂 I totally forgot about this but at 16 I also had another group of friends with which I used to go to one hidden club where we smoked all we wanted. I just found old photos. 😆 Ohh..amazing times.