The Problem with Shots

Ah, shots. If you've ever been a partier, you've probably done a shot or two. Or a few too many. People do shots of almost any liquor or liqueur. Some go for traditional booze such as whiskey or vodka, and some want the more fun, creative stuff like jello shooters. These are usually served as bite-sized cubes or in little, paper pill cups. At trendy bars, attractive young women (sometimes scantily-clad) walk around and sell shots in little plastic tubes.

The problem with all of these quickly delivered doses of booze is that a lot of people combine them with a number of other drinks such as beer, wine, or mixed drinks. If consumed in a short period of time, those drinks tend to intoxicate people. That's sort of the point, but over a period of time, fun-loving twenty-somethings can form some pretty bad habits. One is that they get used to binge drinking and drinking a lot in a short amount of time in order to get a buzz. Another issue is that those living in areas where most people drive everywhere (most places in the U.S.) are more likely to get behind the wheel after an evening of drinking.

I'm here to discuss moderation though, so I'm going to look at how the popularity of shots and shooters relates to our drinking habits. Okay, so if a guy who is practicing moderation goes out with some friends and orders a beer, that's one drink he's working on already. Let's say his buddy orders a round of shots for the group. They all clink the glasses together, throw them back, and they're gone. The first beer usually goes down a bit faster for a lot of guys, especially if it's a partyin' sort of night. Therefore, most guys can easily down two drinks in less than thirty minutes, especially if there's a shot involved. Well, a little time passes, the guys are having some laughs and one of them wants to be generous and help make a good time even better, so he also orders a round of shots for the group.

Situations like the one I'm describing above happen all time. I know because I've lived it and it's easy to observe the same thing going on in bars and clubs all over the place. You can go out for the evening with good intentions ("I'll just have two drinks")and end up wondering if you should drive home. Consuming shots not only gets us started on that "slippery slope" of problem drinking; it also makes drinking in moderation quite difficult. Think about it: is't throwing an entire serving of alcohol down all at once sort of the antithesis of practicing moderation and self-control?

I found myself in such a situation several months ago, right around the holidays. I attended a friend's birthday party at a bar not far from my home. It wasn't far, but I did drive there, so I fully intended to drink lightly, have a nice time catching up with old friends, and then be able to legally drive home in a few hours. After more than a year of successfully moderating my drinking, I was confident that I could do so. I was successful, but that evening was a nice reminder of how easy it can be to over-indulge. Since most of my friends and I are 40 or older at this point, we tend to be a bit more restrained than we were in our younger days, but there's always those die-hard drinkers who order shots. I had one shot that evening and two beers but was there for about three and a half hours. It would have been easy to have six or more drinks in that time, especially since shots were being poured.

What's my point with all of this? It should be obvious. Shots are fun but they can be a factor in letting a night of social drinking get out-of-hand. Now that I'm an advocate of drinking in moderation, it seems that drinking shots is almost like throwing one's moderation guidelines right out the window. As I've gotten older, I sort of feel that doing shots is sort of stupid. I don't drink much liquor, but when I do, I want to sip it. That's why they call some whiskey "sippin' whiskey." I don't know if there are other kinds, but I'm pretty sure none of it is intended to be "shootin' whiskey." That is, of course, unless you mean that after drinking it, you get a certain buzz that makes you want to grab your gun and a few empty bottles and see if you can shoot them off of a fence post. But then your aim may not be so hot.

Just checking in, finally

I haven't written anything here in many months, but since it's been about a year since I became serious about drinking in moderation, this seemed like a good time to post an update. There's not much to report as far as my drinking habits go, and that's a good thing. But I recognize that old habits can creep slowly back into one's daily or weekly routine, so I'll be sure to mention that.

First off, I'll describe what has worked for me over the past few months. I've probably said it before and I'll say it again: I love beer. I'm not really picky about my beer either. I went to college in the 90's, and that was before all these micro/craft brews entered the market. You could pay more for some tasty ales, but those didn't pack the punch of some of these 7-9% alcohol, super-hoppy ales, stouts, and porters.

These craft beers that so many of us have learned to love taste good and it's fun to try new ones, but have become increasingly expensive over the past few years. For a person who is trying to drink in moderation, these beers can lead to trouble because, as I mentioned above, some of them have twice as much alcohol in them as the old-fashioned lagers that used to be the standard "keep-in-the-fridge" American beers. I've wondered if this new generation of super beers has helped guys like me become heavy drinkers. No, I'm not blaming the alcohol. I'm just saying that if you give a chubby kid extra candy, he might gain a little weight. (Is that a good enough metaphor?) My solution? Well, first I started drinking less of them, but the high prices still bothered me.

"Ten bucks for a six pack? Twelve?! What? Wait... that one is only a FOUR pack?!"

Well, you know what I did? I went back to mostly drinking good-old, American lagers. They're half the price and I don't get all stupid if I drink two of them. I'm not saying I never drink the good stuff; I just buy it on special occasions, like when people come over. I like the regular stuff as much as I ever did. There's nothing like a nice, cold beer. If I'm really thirsty, I drink some water first so that I don't end up gulping a beer. Even a cheap beer should be sipped, especially if you're practicing moderation.

Those who subscribe to the "black and white" philosophy on alcoholism and abuse have told me that it doesn't matter how high a person's tolerance is to alcohol because an alcohol abuser is an alcoholic and therefore, that person should abstain completely. I disagree. I abstained for a while and then changed my habits, and my tolerance is noticeably lower. As a result, I feel the alcohol faster and I believe I'm able to cut myself off sooner. I'm not a young guy anymore and I have no intention of raising my tolerance to keep up with other guys (it sounds so ridiculous now), so having a low tolerance keeps my drinking within the moderate level of 14 or less drinks per week.

Now, let's get to the reality check. I'm not perfect, and I have broken my own rules several times within the past year. Although my drinking habits have been very healthy, there have been weeks where I had a beer or two nearly every day. This isn't a big deal while on vacation, but I have done it during a regular work week too. I won't beat myself up over it though because I noticed it and I've been more careful lately. Two six packs per week is still moderation, and my rediscovered love for beer-flavored beer means that there's a lot less alcohol in those six packs.

As always, please feel free to leave questions and comments.

Be responsible and be safe.

Until next time,

Jack