cannedmoose wrote:ChomskyFan wrote:I know it is the minority file mou but in places like Agia Napa it is a very sizeable minority. I stayed in Agia Napa once in a hotel called Grecian Bay that was right next to the beach and not that far from town centre, and most of the english there were respectable people, but I just cannot fathom why one would want to go on holiday for the sole purpose of getting drunk?
I read an interesting article about this the other day that rang true with me a little. It basically said that because British society is so constrained these days with rules governing how you can and cannot behave in public, when a certain element of British society travels abroad they assume that 'the shackles are off' and they can behave however they want - sex in the street, excessive drinking, violence against each other and locals.
IMHO, the problem with British society is that booze is considered a taboo subject with younger children. Unlike in France, Italy, Greece etc. where children become socialised with alcohol at a young age and appreciate that socialising is important, not the alcohol per se, in the UK children and alcohol are not allowed to mix. It therefore becomes something mysterious and which one must experiment with. This leads to kids in the street drinking cider and other noxious tonics.
There is also a certain cache in much of British society that deifies alcohol and the consumption thereof. To claim that you drink 10 pints a night is a badge of pride rather than one of shame. Personally, I've never subscribed to this because 1. I can't stand the taste of most alcoholic drinks and 2. I find the ethos of going out and getting tanked up totally alien and unnecessary. I personally don't enjoy not being able to remember what I've done and spending the following day praying to the ceramic Gods. Quite why so many of my countrymen and women do, I'm really not sure.
Same with me my friend, I despise drinking Beer and think it's pathetic the way my friends, on a friday night, actually pretend they are some kind of hardened drinkers, you know, comparing the merits of ale to lager et al. I have never liked beer because it tastes like piss, and people force themselves to drink it at my age just to get drunk, in basic terms, the ends justifies the means. As for other alcoholic drinks, I don't mind Whisky, or brandy after a meal, or a good wine during one. I just think beer in general tastes like piss.
Also I agree with you concerning the constraints. If you Liberalize something it no longer becomes as 'cool'.
