It was a model of clean living. There was no smoking, no alcohol and no drugs. And of course no girls. So I left school as a remarkably abstemious individual, shunning any unhealthy activities, unless an enthusiastic interest in politics is unhealthy (it probably is).
At home I was equally abstemious because of the attitudes slowly engrained at boarding school, and because my parents were equally abstemious. My father was a light smoker and both my parents were happy with a single glass of wine.
No doubt some of my fellow pupils relapsed as soon as they left school and were free to indulge themselves, but I kept fairly "clean". I've never smoked. I took drugs once or twice before deciding they weren't for me. And I drank wine for many years but only in small quantities.
No doubt if I'd gone to the local state school clean living would have been dismissed as puritanical nonsense and unhealthy behaviour would have been the norm. So thanks, Berkhamsted School, for keeping me on the straight and narrow.
I went to public school but the group I hung out with were as abstemious as you were. I smoked a few cigarettes but quickly decided they weren't worth the money. I never took drugs. As young marrieds we drank socially but I have only actually been drunk twice in my 78 years (other people kept filling my glass when I wasn't paying attention). And I was not sexually active until after marriage. (It helps to get married at 19.) I no longer drink at all--again, not worth the price.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: I've been drunk about four times and I've now given up alcohol anyway. As you say, not worth the hefty price.
DeleteNothing wrong with limiting the things that aren't good for you. I don't drink, smoke or do drugs. I'm enough prescription meds that I don't need the illegal ones. lol
ReplyDeleteMary: Very abstemious! Yes, alcohol can interfere with regular medicines.
DeleteIt wasn't so bad at the state school! They limited us to 5 cigarettes a day, and half a bottle of whiskey at lunchtime. And I only recall the English teacher taking us to the pub once.
ReplyDeleteSx
Ms Scarlet: Five ciggies a day and half a bottle of whisky? Is that all? What a tight-arsed regime.
DeleteYour liver and your heart thank you.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: I'm sure they do!
DeleteWell, nick, I cannot say the same. I was a wild child in my late teens. A child of the '60s and really no regrets. It was a time of discovery and rebellion. I turned into my respectful self who also has a strong interest in politics.
ReplyDeleteSandra: I was only wild in that after leaving school I made a lot of eccentric and disreputable friends my parents heartily disapproved of. And like you, it was a time of discovery and rebellion (and political activism).
DeleteIn high school, in my misery, I often said to the boy next to me in English class, "I'm getting drunk tonight" but then in the bar I would get happy so easily that I would drop my intention to be drunk.
ReplyDeleteToday if I feel the effects of alcohol it is by accident, safely in my own home. Lately I have discovered that de-alcalized beer tastes the same, (and I drink both equally) just as decaf coffee tastes the same, although others would disagree, especially about the coffee. But I'm sticking to my story.
Sean: I agree, no-alcohol drinks often taste much the same as alcohol. A lot of the people I know have either given up alcohol or drastically reduced how much they drink.
DeleteI'm glad to hear you enjoyed your school days.
ReplyDeleteColette: But I didn't!
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