I more or less viewed this as a no-brainer when I saw the prompt for this week’s spill the beans. It seemed pretty easy when I saw it and after thinking about it, I don’t think my opinion has changed a lot.
You must decide to either give up coffee or alcohol permanently. What factors sway your decision, and what do you select to eliminate?
It’s safe to say that before establishing my choice, which would be to give up alcohol permanently, I state my reasons for doing that and I wouldn’t be able to, without narrating my first few experiences with alcohol.
I didn’t truly taste alcohol for a long time in my life. My very first taste would be when I was seven. I’d been taken by my parents to visit my Uncle and in my usual adventurous way, I left others in the sitting room and wandered through the magnificent house. I came across a huge door and opened it to reveal my Uncle's study.
I would have closed it because of its otherwise uninteresting appearance if I hadn’t turned then to see the widest array of drinks and perceive a faint hint of chocolate. Or was it cream? I didn’t ever see drinks like this in my house and I’d only ever seen my Dad take coffee and soda. I kind of had the idea of drinks I shouldn’t be taking but I kept perceiving cream. So, I followed the scent to the desk underneath and saw a glass half filled with a creamy substance. I sniffed at the lid.
Chocolate?
I took a huge sip and widened my eyes. It did taste like chocolate but there was this bitter aftertaste that made me know that it wasn’t quite chocolate. Either way, I was still sipping and trying to see the name of the bottle when my young, clumsy fingers sent it crashing to the ground.
You can already guess that I was caught in that moment and what followed afterwards wasn't better. It’s safe to say that my first alcohol experience was a failure.
Fast forward to nearly a decade later at an occasion where I asked a friend to get me a popular soda drink that had a light-golden colour. My people would know it as LaCasera. It’s quite bubbly and I needed to feel calm. He came back with a glass, saying he’d turned the soda into the glass. Since it had the same colour, I didn’t waste time to down the entire glass.
Worst moment of my life.
I was spasming with the intense burn at the back of my throat. My eyes got teary as I tried to regain myself from the vile liquid I’d just tasted. I heard laughter around me.
“It’s just beer, Tess. It’s not that deep.”
I left the occasion fuming and with a diem resolve that I would never taste alcohol again. And of course, I know better than to ask someone to get me a drink.
Regardless of my terrible alcohol-tasting incidents, I genuinely find the taste not much to get me on. I can understand the bitter taste of coffee but you can lighten that taste to suit your needs. The rich, creamy taste of coffee is way better than the underwhelming taste of alcohol. Maybe I’d have liked it given that a lot of people in the world see it as a big deal but the taste is not encouraging.
Another reason I’ll be happy to do away with alcohol for the rest of my life as opposed to coffee is the mental clarity that coffee comes with. Imagine starting your day with anything but the enhanced focus, concentration and natural energy boost that coffee has to offer. Alcohol, on the other hand, makes you feel slow and lethargic. For a productive day, it has to be the top three worst things to start your day with.
Then there’s the risk of addiction. I don’t know for a lot of people but saying, “I’m addicted to coffee” sounds better than saying “I’m addicted to alcohol.” If coffee is consumed moderately, the risk of addiction is less but alcohol no matter the intake, if done consistently, would make you begin to depend on it unconsciously. I don’t need to have had this experience to know this. I’ve seen first-hand what it can do to people. A hundred percent would not recommend the ugliness it could turn people to. Even for an enemy.
And lastly, even though, it doesn’t seem like a lot, Coffee is just a babe, isn’t she? I’ve had the best conversations and built good relationships over coffee. Two people sharing their interests and objects of happiness with a clear head and sharp mind. Plus, it’s something I’d love to do with the love of my life one day. Waking up every day to build sweet and long-lasting memories. A bond that alcohol just can’t offer me.
Therefore, and without hesitation, alcohol is my choice to be on the permanent elimination chopping block. It has its perks but I can do happily on my own without it.
