Discover the regions
of France
of France
Booze / gnole
Submitted by crc95 on August 18, 2004 - 2:05pm.
Since this forum looks about as dead as the feeling of humanity in Dick Cheney's brain, I'll open a new topic about a major cultural difference between France and the US that I happen to care about : attitude towards ALCOHOL !!
I remember when I was a kid, when we'd go and visit my grandparents, my grandpa would usually open a bottle of white wine -- my grandpa's family is originally from Savoie, so they've always had a thing for white wine. Well, after I turned about 12 or 13, I remember my grandpa starting to offer me the glass of wine, too. And when I would refuse (I started enjoying wine quite late, and never really had the thing for white wine anyway), my grandpa would have this disappointed look in his eyes. As for my parents, they wouldn't really bother. In fact, during late high school years, when I was about 17 and started to attend to *cool* parties, my dad would eventually provide me with an occasional liquor bottle to bring in.
A few years later I started my first trips to the US by myself. What a surprise to find out that I couldn't go to any cool place (such as live music clubs) if I was not twenty-one. I was not, so I had to go through all the stupid tricks teenagers in the US do, such as lying, pretending, and faking IDs. A friend of mine got pulled over in MA with a trunk full of beer. The cops had them empty every cans on the side of the road. I also remember these two young Brits in some youth hostel I was staying in, who had to beg other residents every day to go and shop for them for their daily beer.
So, I'm asking : why all this madness ? Any teenager in France can go to a bar and order a double scotch. Even if there are rules indeed, no one respects nor enforces them. Nobody cares. Does this mean teenagers and young adults in France are hopeless drunks with a life expectancy of 45 ? Of course not. On the other hand, are families in the US looking to protect their 19 or 20 yr old children from the evil of alcohol ?
I want to know !
CRC
I remember when I was a kid, when we'd go and visit my grandparents, my grandpa would usually open a bottle of white wine -- my grandpa's family is originally from Savoie, so they've always had a thing for white wine. Well, after I turned about 12 or 13, I remember my grandpa starting to offer me the glass of wine, too. And when I would refuse (I started enjoying wine quite late, and never really had the thing for white wine anyway), my grandpa would have this disappointed look in his eyes. As for my parents, they wouldn't really bother. In fact, during late high school years, when I was about 17 and started to attend to *cool* parties, my dad would eventually provide me with an occasional liquor bottle to bring in.
A few years later I started my first trips to the US by myself. What a surprise to find out that I couldn't go to any cool place (such as live music clubs) if I was not twenty-one. I was not, so I had to go through all the stupid tricks teenagers in the US do, such as lying, pretending, and faking IDs. A friend of mine got pulled over in MA with a trunk full of beer. The cops had them empty every cans on the side of the road. I also remember these two young Brits in some youth hostel I was staying in, who had to beg other residents every day to go and shop for them for their daily beer.
So, I'm asking : why all this madness ? Any teenager in France can go to a bar and order a double scotch. Even if there are rules indeed, no one respects nor enforces them. Nobody cares. Does this mean teenagers and young adults in France are hopeless drunks with a life expectancy of 45 ? Of course not. On the other hand, are families in the US looking to protect their 19 or 20 yr old children from the evil of alcohol ?
I want to know !
CRC
»
Donerail
1 part Tequila
1 part Rum
1 part Gin
1 part Triple Sec
1 1/2 parts Sweet and Sour Mix
1 splash Coca-Cola
Got it. I have everything they need except for the 'Sweet and Sour Mix' ... what do they mean by that ?
And Triple Sec is the way you call Grand MArnier or Cointreau, right ?
Oh, and where's the tea ???
CRC
They're actually very tasty
CRC
I'm not the typical American. My Quebecois father would give me wine when i was a little girl, however it was heavily diluted with water. Only for special occassions, though. When I was about 12 years old, I got to taste cognac heavily diluted with water. The older I became, the less water there was in it. By the time i was 17, I drank wine without water and and a bit of cognac without water. My parents always said that drinking is to enhance a meal, NOT FOR GETTING DRUNK. In high school, I could serve myself if I wanted a glass of wine or some cognac. My parents trusted me to be responsible, however, if i took too much, then they'd cut me off for the night.
99% of Americans would NEVER NEVER bring their children up in this manner (including my sister). They think alcohol is taboo until you're 21 years old. However, this IS the problem. Because it is a taboo item for anybody under 21, as soon as a person turns 21 the first thing they do is rush to drink legally. Being less than fully knowledgable about alcohol effects, they binge drink, because their previous (and illegal) experiences with alcohol were mostly at parties wtih other teenagers where they experimented with alcohol. Had their parents taught them HOW to use alcohol responsibly, then alcohol related deaths would go down considerably.
We've all gotten drunk a few times in our lives. However, people who have been taught how to drink alcohol responsibly are not apt to binge drink, as compared to people whose families refused them a glass of wine until they were "of the correct age."
Remember, Prohibition was NOT in Europe. It was in the United States. (My Alsacian family made wines and kirsch (spelling?) in their cellar all the time to get around that stupid law.)
CRC
That said, I am truly sorry to acknowledge that I have never been introduced to the Long Island Ice Tea
Americans ought to be ashamed of their beers though. But I guess I'm not the first one to tell you that !
CRC
Obviously, many of these people drink, but they do it somewhat secretly. Perhaps because of this, many kids (and older people) think it's true freedom to go out and get totally drunk every weekend. Many Americans simply drink to get drunk. They don't care what the stuff tastes like and the cheaper the better. Strange attitude that you don't see often in Europe although there certainly are drinking problems there too. It is, after all, addictive and requires a certain self control. Many Americans are not seriously into self control either!
A lot of our inhibitions refer back to our Protestant heritage. There is an old joke about a hotel bartender who says, "We do quite well when we have Episcopalian and Catholic conventions here because they drink quite a bit. The Lutherans are pretty good too but we love the Baptists." Reply: "How is that, the Baptists don't drink?" Bartender: "You have to serve it under the table, but they sure do outdrink the others!"
Post new comment