The silly season

The Christmas time is here and here in Dublin the silly season is in full swing. In the past few years the concept of 12 pubs of Christmas has become popular. You can see groups of people in their Christmas jumpers falling in from a pub door. The idea is to try to drink twelve pints of beer in twelve pubs in one night. In reality this is as silly as it sounds, but what makes it even more of a pain for the people who work in bars is the fact that these are people who don’t usually drink so much and I am sure you can guess the results.

So I’d like to make a few points here. First of all, sure it is the season for your staff Christmas parties, and it’s been a while since you all went out together. But please try to be considerate to the bar staff and in general just all the other people around you in the pub. No one but your friends who are equally intoxicated find it funny when you decide to climb on the table doing your crazy dance and spill half of your pint all over the place.

The second point is just a little bit of science. Twelve pints is a lot of alcohol. On a regular size man that could raise your blood alcohol levels to around 300-350mg. To put this in perspective, 400mg can be lethal… Now if you are a woman and considerably smaller than your male colleagues, your tolerance is not going to be as high. And if you do not drink regularly, the alcohol is going to have a much stronger effect on you. Also if you mix your drinks with shots, that alcohol level can creep up to scary levels before you even know.

So if you insist on participating in this seasonal over kill, make sure you eat well before, make sure you drink loads of water in between the alcoholic drinks and please take your time rather than trying to rush through those pints. And no matter what any of your friends will say, it is the stronger person who knows their own limits. Be safe out there and spare a thought for the people who work in the pubs.

J.P.

The author J.P. Kallio is a singer songwriter
To get three of his free songs go HERE and click Download