Why I drink (in moderation)

I recently read John Scalzi's Thanksgiving Advent post about not drinking alcohol, which reminded me of Amy Sundberg's excellent post about why she doesn't drink alcohol. There were two things I found quite striking about these posts: First, that despite being a moderate drinker myself, I agreed with a lot of what they had to say. And second, that it was frankly a bit odd that it's those of us who choose not to indulge in a mind-altering, toxic*, and potentially addictive substance who find themselves having to justify their behavior.

So, in the interest of fair play, I thought I should write a post about ( why I drink )

*Yes, there's evidence that moderate alcohol consumption is good for you. But any substance that makes your liver go, "Woah. Hang on a mo, gotta deal with this!" when it hits your bloodstream is a toxin in my book.