Glasgow in the early 80s was where and when I was born. Was I born with a beer in my hand? No, of course not so let’s look at some of the thinking which led to me over-drinking for 25 years before having to quit at age 41.
I am James, now 42 and over 9 months sober. Hurrah! You may have noticed I used the word ‘having’. I really did have to stop because the constant thinking about alcohol and the many many times I tried to moderate and failed had become exhausting. Let’s look at the culture back in my earlier life and what got me started on my beer-loving lifestyle.
Many UK high streets follow a similar pattern. Pub, Bookie, Junk Food outlet and a few shops before it repeats. Addictive dopamine hits are so easy to come by that it’s no wonder so many of us end up chasing the rush via Alcohol or Gambling and then it gets the better of us. I grew up opposite a pub, not on a High Street but next to the typical ‘Local’ where as a child kicking my football in the garden I would see the men finish their work and head in for a cold beer. And this intrigued me as a kid. What went on in there? Why do the same faces appear most days and why at 10 years old am I not allowed?
I would hear the noise – the loud voices, the music playing louder on Friday and Saturday nights as I lay in bed and the next day try to sneak a look inside as I ran past the door to fetch the ball I had deliberately kicked over the garden fence. Glasses would be found most Mondays in our garden as drunken customers had left with their glasses still half full – not wanting to give up that last mouthful. Sadly a feeling I now know all too well. Anyway, if I found a McEwans Lager glass I would clean it and use it. A sign I wanted to be a grown-up way before my time.
In the early 90s, alcohol was everywhere. Oasis and the Manchester music scene on our TV screens would show the coolest of frontmen standing on stage drinking. Models would be advertising beers at the breaks in our favourite shows. Radio station hosts would be famous for going live at 6 am having never been to bed and been out on the piss all night. The ladette culture was a thing where it was seen that women should be drinking just as much as the lads. The papers and magazines were full of celebrities being drunk and it looked like a great way to live. I know now it isn’t. It only took me 25 years but better late than never!
At about 12 years of age, I was able to access the snooker club above the pub after school. I would take my 50p and get a few hours of snooker played before I had to leave when it became too busy. I was hooked on the atmosphere, the sounds, the smell, the stale air, the faces of the regulars, the dark corners of the room. It all appealed to me.
And then it happened. I turned 18 and went straight to the bar and ordered my first legal pint of beer. Legal as I had drunk a few times before 18 but not like you would think I did. I didn’t drink alcohol regularly until I was about 19 and then it was all systems go! The other thing that grabbed my attention around alcohol was sports and how most bars will be busier when the game is on, whatever that may be.
When SKY TV started to show all kinds of sports at all times of the day it was an easy excuse to head to the pub for a drink. “Football is on, I am off to the pub”. “The Rugby is on, are you coming for a beer”. I would look forward to nothing more than the big match at the pub with mates in a packed bar. When Rangers (my team) played Celtic (not my team!) the games would begin at 12.30 pm and we would stand outside for the bar to open at 11 am. A race to the bar for that first cold beer would occur and then it was a full day of drinking either celebrating or commiserating the result. I loved it and everything about it. I was hooked.
Sport in a working-class town is a big deal. It offers a release to the hard-working man or woman and creates excitement, conversation and interest. A beer and the game are inherited through generations and is just what you do in these type of areas up and down the UK. Sports teams are sponsored and usually by an alcohol giant or a bookie. It is a culture within society that excites and sweeps people like myself into a frenzy each time a match is played and even now over 9 months on from my last drink, I still reach for a beer – Alcohol Free now – every time a game is on. It is ingrained in my mind that I should drink when sports are on the telly. Unsure it will ever change but glad that I have changed the contents of my bottle.
Let me finish by saying that being sober isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It can be difficult, especially in the beginning but it is worth it. I would go as far as to say most of my issues were caused by alcohol and removing it has removed them. If you are curious about sobriety give it a go. you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Thanks for reading.
James – HangoverFreeLiving.com
Thanks James!…
A really interesting perspective. Be sure to drop him a follow on Instagram and sign up to his blog by following the link above!