Have we stopped loving alcohol?

I vaguely remember my University years, it was a blur of studying and drinking to excess. It was the expected thing to do, you go to classes and then study, but Thursday through to Sunday and sometimes even Monday was given over to going out, getting drunk and having a carry on.

It would most likely start in the Student Union,

Then a cheap pub on Byres Road and finally off to a night club, at that point there were a good few to choose from, but the favourite dives were either,

The Garage

Nice and Sleazy

Or my favourite, Fury Murrys

Fury’s was always the club of choice, it was dark, slightly seedy and the dance floor was always filled with dry ice smoke, Fury’s sadly closed it’s doors for the last time over ten years ago and I miss the place even now. Thursday night was 50p Vodka and pint night, and rounds were always pints and vodka. Even when someone asked for something different

A lot of Glasgow’s famous nightclubs have closed their doors forever, this article lists some of those legendary venues

Is clubbing dying out? In 2005 there were 3144 nightclubs in Britain, this figure is now down to 1733.

Is that because people are shunning the consumption of alcohol, does the generation going through University now have more of an eye on earning that degree and then the elusive job that comes after.

I lost count of the times I found myself in front of a chippie late at night putting the world to rights with people I had only just met, or woke up crashed out from the night before on a strange living room floor! Followed up with the skint student special of fry up in a can!

looks terrible, and most likely was, but tasted amazing to my hungover self back then.

I feel it was a rite of passage to go through some of the parties and blurry nights and painful mornings that pass into polished and loved anecdotes for years to come, shared with like minded friends.

I had a conversation recently with a friend on this very subject and he stated he felt a little sorry for the “orange juice” brigade, people who had never relaxed and let themselves have a few drinks and get daft on a dance floor, he admitted he had done his fair share of that and more. Meet him now and you would never know as he is a respected Lawyer, but that’s what built his character.

Young adults in the UK are being reported as more likely to be tee total or completely straight edge according to this report

The report states that more than a quarter of those aged between 16 and 24 don’t drink.

Strangely though that figure is different in people aged over 65, the figures look like less over 65's are teetotal now than in previous years.

I don’t know if it was the financial crash of 2008, watching your parents getting bladdered at the weekend or a rebellious rejection of a previous generations and their alcoholic excess but young people are shunning alcohol.

I personally wouldn’t change a minute of my drunken earlier years, I’ve seen bands, I’ve been to parties and interacted with people that might never have but for the pint in my hand and for that I am grateful.

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