I don't drink/drink very very little because I am allergic to alcohol. My face turns red, I get hot, my heart pounds and generally I feel cruddy. So if and when I drink, I tend to drink very little, maybe once or twice a year. And only one drink at a time. Not beer, usually something sweet.
Anyway, the hard cider she had, I don't remember what it was, but it wasn't bad. I generally do not like the alcohol taste after swallowing, so not drinking also gives me that benefit.
Fast forward to the weekend we got home and we were grocery shopping. I figured, why not, let's pick up some hard cider. We got something with lemonade and guava and brought it home. That night, her and I split a 12oz can and it was not bad. It was hot out and the drink tasted nice enough. I didn't get a buzz or anything but I could feel my face get warm and my eyes feel tight (don't know how else to explain it).
A few nights later after dinner, I was settling down to watch the Mariners' game and figured I'd be ok having another can. Full one this time. I figured I had food in my stomach and things would be fine.
Little did I know that after drinking it like a soda (way too fast) that things would not be fine. I started feeling weird, my heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest, my head felt stuffy and fuzzy. No buzz, just felt physically gross. I laid down on the couch and tried to rest and it was tough. Heart pounding more than anything else. Soles of feet were itchy, too, I remember.
Anyway, eventually after an hour or so, it wore off. After looking at the box the cider came in, I realized the alcohol volume was 6.9%! No wonder my ass was kicked. That cider had more alcohol in it than I drink in a year.
Blah. Felt gross.
Then tonight, I figured I share one with Marci; that seems to be more my speed. Had it at dinner, polished it off and Haley said she wanted to try it. There were a few drops left, so I let her do it. Then she's all, "That's not so bad," which in my mind meant, "I've had worse," and we just sort of let it go.
After a few more minutes of internally trying not to freak out or anything, she came out and said that she'd done shots of vodka before, as well as had cider. I'll spare the details of how the vodka made her feel, but let's just say she didn't feel great.
It was cool to have an "adult" conversation with her, though, without either Marci or I freaking out. Nice that Hay trusted us to tell us about it. It was less of a confession and more of her sharing an experience.
I did go slightly Dad mode and told her to be wary of drinking stuff offered from strangers, but she seemed pretty aware of that sort of stuff. At least she didn't roll her eyes or get grumpy about it.
I think once these ciders are done, I'm also done with cider. I'll stick to water and pops and a sip here and there of other people's drinks.
