The 'one more, no more' device...

The past few weeks have pretty much been a non-stop party. So many of my friends are born in Feb and March it feels like it's been one long, never ending weekend of drinking and socialising. It isn't over yet, I still have 2 more weekends to go before my poor feet and legs and my bank balance can have a weekend off. I have witnessed a mish mash of the effects of alcohol on people and it isn't all good. From the happy drunk, to the sulky drunk, to the emotional drunk, to the aggressive drunk, to the paraletic. This last one is the topic of my post.



The last weekend's shenanigans have been the best by far without shadow of a doubt. However what lingers in my mind are the 2 members of our party who drank themselves into such a state that they became the responsibilty of the rest of the group. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against drinking and I have drowned my sorrows, danced the night away and even drank some of them under the table. What I do have a problem with, is people that don't know their limits.



As a teen and into your early 20's experimenting is what you do, pushing yourself to see how far you can go and testing your limits. Inevitably you will pass out, throw up and fall over along the way, but I guess for some that's part of growing up.



However when you reach the ripe old age of "knowing better" as we (all those that have celebrated birthdays the past couple of weeks) are, there is no excuse - in my humble opinion. Apparently some still think it's ok to drink until you pass out, or vanish for hours on end in a club without telling any of the people that you came with where you are. But to me that's unacceptable. It is now down to somebody else to make sure you don't choke on your vomit, or vanish into an unlicensed cab never to be seen again and to make sure you don't lose your keys and get home safely. Not really what they came out for. Everyone came out to have a good time, but now someone has to look after those that over-indulged...



There must be a point where your body says 'ok, that's enough, one more drink and that's it'. I know my body has that device I call it 'one more, no more' it's pretty accurate and I tend to listen to it. I know that 4 glasses of champagne is my limit, but I also know that i'll feel like i've been hit by a bus in the morning. So I tend not to drink Champagne. I know that if I mix wine and spirits i'll spend most of the night throwing up and won't remember how I got home and it'll take me days to recover. I NEVER mix wine and spirits. I know I can drink spirits with a mixer or cocktails until the cows come home and until my 'one more, no more' device kicks in i'll be ok. I also know that in the morning i'll feel a little bit worse for wear but nothing that would render me inactive. So i stick to what my body can handle, but I know this because in my teens and early 20's I threw up a few times and experienced short term memory loss until I engaged my 'one more, no more' device.



Maybe not everyone used their teens as their experimental time. Maybe not everyone has the 'one more, no more' device. Or maybe like those who become morbidly obese they choose to ignore it, like that feeling of being full.



But at the age where one should no better there must be a stage where you know it's time to stop, regardless of anything else...



Or maybe that's just me.



Do you have a 'one more, no more, device?