2008 Woodie Awards
England offers 18+ drinking opportunities
A DUDE ABROAD
Vincent Goodwin
Issue date: 2/24/06 Section: Opinion
I want to share a little secret with you. In London, as with every other place in the world that doesn't start with a "U" and end with a "Nited States of America," you can legally buy alcohol at age 18.
They even sell hard liquor in the grocery stores. Not only that, the supermarkets have their own brands of alcohol. You've seen H-E-B cola, H-E-B tortilla chips, H-E-B ice cream; now imagine H-E-B vodka. And, it's cheaper than the actual licensed stuff. Now, I know what you're thinking: The H-E-B brand can't be as good as the regular stuff. Please, I'm a college student. The simple fact that it has alcohol in it means that it's good enough for me.
I knew I was in the Promised Land when I was flying over the Atlantic, and the flight attendant asked me if I would like a glass of wine with my meal. Me? Alcohol? Free? Yes, ma'am!
But, of course, I screwed up. I have yet to figure out which wines go with what types of food. All I know is that red wine doesn't go with chips-and-queso. Apparently, airplane vegetable lasagna doesn't either.
Once on the ground, I immediately hit up a pub. Most of the people in the study abroad program are underage, so it really was like 300 kids all celebrating their 21st birthday at once. I'm especially lucky because my birthday is three days after I get back in the States, so I still have that time-honored tradition to look forward to. Nevertheless, I felt it was something worth documenting, and now I literally have a photo album full of "Vince's First Legal Beer," which has a lot in common with "Vince's First Christmas." In both photo sets, I'm not sure what's going on, but I sure am happy to be there.
That's because I have what some people call a "low tolerance." Others more affectionately call me a "cheap date" for the simple fact that I can get quite buzzed off of two beers. But please do remember that a British pint is 20 ounces, not 16 like in America. And let me tell you, those extra eight ounces sneak up on you. Plus, the beer is a little more potent here. Last week, I had a beer with an 11.5 percent alcohol content (Natty Light is 4.2 percent), and that bastard was vicious.
Aside from the fact that I will never have those black X's drawn on my hands again, finally having no more age restrictions is kind of depressing. I don't know if it's the English beer, but I've always preferred the taste of clandestine beer. It's just a little more fun when you know it's wrong. I also like to drink Coke with Pop Rocks; yeah, I live dangerously. Maybe next time I go to a club when I'm back in the States, I'll get the X's anyway and then get an over-21 friend to buy me a beer. Yeah, that'd be a badass move.
They even sell hard liquor in the grocery stores. Not only that, the supermarkets have their own brands of alcohol. You've seen H-E-B cola, H-E-B tortilla chips, H-E-B ice cream; now imagine H-E-B vodka. And, it's cheaper than the actual licensed stuff. Now, I know what you're thinking: The H-E-B brand can't be as good as the regular stuff. Please, I'm a college student. The simple fact that it has alcohol in it means that it's good enough for me.
I knew I was in the Promised Land when I was flying over the Atlantic, and the flight attendant asked me if I would like a glass of wine with my meal. Me? Alcohol? Free? Yes, ma'am!
But, of course, I screwed up. I have yet to figure out which wines go with what types of food. All I know is that red wine doesn't go with chips-and-queso. Apparently, airplane vegetable lasagna doesn't either.
Once on the ground, I immediately hit up a pub. Most of the people in the study abroad program are underage, so it really was like 300 kids all celebrating their 21st birthday at once. I'm especially lucky because my birthday is three days after I get back in the States, so I still have that time-honored tradition to look forward to. Nevertheless, I felt it was something worth documenting, and now I literally have a photo album full of "Vince's First Legal Beer," which has a lot in common with "Vince's First Christmas." In both photo sets, I'm not sure what's going on, but I sure am happy to be there.
That's because I have what some people call a "low tolerance." Others more affectionately call me a "cheap date" for the simple fact that I can get quite buzzed off of two beers. But please do remember that a British pint is 20 ounces, not 16 like in America. And let me tell you, those extra eight ounces sneak up on you. Plus, the beer is a little more potent here. Last week, I had a beer with an 11.5 percent alcohol content (Natty Light is 4.2 percent), and that bastard was vicious.
Aside from the fact that I will never have those black X's drawn on my hands again, finally having no more age restrictions is kind of depressing. I don't know if it's the English beer, but I've always preferred the taste of clandestine beer. It's just a little more fun when you know it's wrong. I also like to drink Coke with Pop Rocks; yeah, I live dangerously. Maybe next time I go to a club when I'm back in the States, I'll get the X's anyway and then get an over-21 friend to buy me a beer. Yeah, that'd be a badass move.