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The First of Many
Alcohol - Hard
Citation:   Fotini. "The First of Many: An Experience with Alcohol - Hard (exp35220)". Erowid.org. Mar 12, 2007. erowid.org/exp/35220

 
DOSE:
  repeated oral Alcohol - Hard (liquid)
BODY WEIGHT: 135 lb
At the time, I was 14 years old (at this time of writing, I'm 19). There's certainly no way in hell I could tell you the exact dose, because it was quite a lot, and back then I didn't even understand what a 'shot' was (although I sure enjoyed them, that's for sure).

Perhaps an important thing to note would be a personal description of what I was like at the time for my fellow scholars. I was a high school freshman for like, less than a month. Back then I was a skinny guy, and quite a shy one at that (I graduated high school as one of the most prominent nerds and reserved people of my graduating class, although somewhat wrongfully because I changed quite a lot throughout high school). I did not talk very much back then, and I was actually more outgoing in front of my friends than my family. I still am to a certain degree.

I was going to go to my sister's house and pop my cherry with booze, although I don't think I quite understood that at the time (hard to believe I guess). When I got there, she gave me a Bud Light, and I immediately sat down. I'd tasted beer before, and thought it was weird, and at this time, I still thought it was a little weird because I'd never quite had a grasp of what alcohol tasted like. I enjoyed it in that regard, although the taste itself wasn't an immense pleasure for me. I didn't hate it though, so I choked it down as best I could. I didn't want to be a wuss or anything, so I didn't take my time. I'd say it took me about 4 minutes to finish it off. Her boyfriend was there, along with a couple other interesting characters I just met. It was a pretty awesome party. We also played an addictive game of dice called 'ten thousand'. I don't remember the rules but it's also possible to play by yourself.

I remember the whole experience quite perfectly (which is just awesome!).

Right after this, I asked my sister, 'What else ya got?' I guess I already started to become less inhibited. I felt the buzz right away, although I'd call it more of a 'shock' to the body from finishing a beer off for the first time. And it made perfect sense to me after everything I'd heard all my life about alcohol, and seeing people drunk. I immediately became curious, the shy, skinny, INHIBITIED guy that I was, of what alcohol was all about. I think my sister wanted to put me to the test or something, judging from what the next challenge was.

Goldschlager! She poured into the tiny glass we all have come to know and love as a 'shotglass' (yes, this is the first time I actually knew what it was, hey, I was new, sue me). I was instructed to 'drink it quickly and not like the beer I just had'.

Now that I'm a hell of a lot more experienced, I'm surprised at how well I took my first shot, especially since it was close to 90 proof cinnamon-flavored schnapps. This has become a drink of sentiment for me - good taste, amazing drunken, happy experiences, and best of all, it introduced me to the world of alcohol. I have no idea how much more I had, because first of all, I didn't even know at the time that it was roughly the equivalent to an entire beer, so I didn't even know at the time how I would keep track of my drinks. I'd say I had about 10+ drinks total? It could've been up to 15 or so. I don't know exactly, but I would swear that it took me a good number of experiences to be able to handle that much alcohol again. I also had some vodka, tequila, Coors, and various things like that, but the Goldschlager is definitely what got me under the table (I definitely was taking it to town on the experimentation). I heard that on your first time, your body rejects it as a poison or something. I don't know...

I fell in love with the experience. All those inhibitions I had back then were temporarily unheard of. I was laughing non-stop, and I've never been able to laugh as easily as I'd like to. I was sitting most of the time for sure. I was talking quite a lot and not making a great deal of sense, but everyone did their best to listen. I wasn't reserved, and I loved it! I was the life of the party.

Near the end of the night, for about the last two hours of the drunk, I was VERY tired. That also probably contributed to how fucked up I was. It was a Friday, so I'd obviously been up that day since 6 in the morning. I don't think I've ever even since gotten up that early and then gotten drunk, now that I think about it. And it's been five years! I also don't think I've ever fallen asleep so easily in my life.

What a really strange way to foretell an inevitable future...I hate to say it, but getting drunk was very enlightening. It made it very clear to me that I was sooner or later going to become more social, less reserved, etc. An odd twist of fate took place and my sister moved away shortly after, although I did get drunk a couple more times at her house before that happened. My sister was gone for a long time, and for reasons I'd rather not get into here, almost completely out of contact with us until I was a SENIOR in high school, and by then, she'd moved back in with my Mom an I. So basically, throughout all of high school, I got drunk three times in my freshman year and the next time I got drunk after that was when I GRADUATED high school in celebration! Oh yeah, my sister was also there, since the family was basically reunited with her again. I thought that was almost a poetic fit.

I've been in college now, so I'll leave the rest of the history to your imagination. Goldschlager has become one of my all-time favorite things to drink, and of all possible things I enjoy the most, whiskey (Canadian Mist is especially amazing) is my favorite. For a while I had difficulty enjoying beer, but I love it again (strange).

I don't write much anymore, so I apologize for my excessive use of parenthesis and tendency to say things in long sentences. I hope anyone reading this enjoyed it!

Exp Year: 1999ExpID: 35220
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Mar 12, 2007Views: 6,768
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Alcohol - Hard (198) : Retrospective / Summary (11), Small Group (2-9) (17)

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