Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.06.2004, Blaðsíða 6

DRINK IS GOOD FOR YOU!
by Robert Jackson
So here’s the scene. I’m sitting at my desk looking out of the win-
dow of the Grapevine offices. Below me is the world’s most famous
hotdog stand and in the distance Esja is throwing of the last of the
winter’s snow. It’s 12:30 on a Saturday morning, it’s a fine day,
I’m feeling good, so I’ll drink a beer while I write this piece. I lift the
ring pull, hear the gentle release of gas and take a sip. “Ah… that’s
better,” I think to myself.
If you are a visitor reading this piece
there’s not much that you would
consider out of the ordinary about
my actions. But if you are from
Iceland, the image would prompt the
question “So, you want to get drunk,
do you?”
You see, Iceland has not embraced
the concept of ‘social’ drinking.
Whilst the rest of Europe, with the
exception of my own country, Eng-
land (and I’ll come back to them),
have grown and developed with
alcohol as a mild and pleasant social
stimulant, the majority of Icelanders
treat alcohol as a Saturn rocket does
liquid nitrogen.
A glass of wine with your meal, a
beer after work with your friends,
a dram of whisky as a night cap are
part of daily life for tens of millions
of Europeans. Europe’s drink laws
treat us as responsible individuals.
Children are introduced to the pleas-
ures of moderate alcohol consump-
tion, whilst at the same time learning
about the obvious dangers of abuse.
In these countries people learn from
an early age that to get drunk and
appear to be drunk is to appear to be
a fool, an embarrassment to not only
yourself, but also the people you are
with.
A sober country from Sunday to
Friday
Iceland remains a temperance based
society where strict drink laws and a
high liquor tax prevail - there is no
tradition of ‘social’ drinking here.
The distribution and sale of alcohol
is run by the state monopoly; they
alone can sell the stuff and they do
so through a restricted number of
outlets at restricted hours. They
also tax the hell out of the product.
Just over 15 years ago beer was still
banned from the country on the
basis that it would have a corrupt-
ing effect on Icelandic youth. An
Icelander cannot buy alcohol until
he is twenty years old and even then
he will pay four times more than his
European counterparts for his bottle
of beer, his glass of wine or what-
ever it is he wants to drink when
he is finally allowed to shop at the
wine monopoly. In addition, most
households do not store liquor and
the majority do not drink alcohol
from Sunday lunchtime to Friday
evening. Instead, Icelanders drink
water, coffee, milk or cola with their
lunch and supper.
On the face of it, all should be well.
But research has shown that while
temperance-based cultures drink less
alcohol per capita than more relaxed
countries, when they do take to the
booze, they drink not for the gentle
stimulant a glass or two can provide;
they drink instead to get drunk. And
here in Iceland, they drink to get
Viking drunk. Let me add, that in a
Grapevine devoted to sexual equal-
ity, Icelandic women kneel shoulder
to shoulder in the gutters with men
when it comes to getting out of it on
a Saturday night.
Do Icelanders drink less than
others?
The other remarkable thing about
temperance-based societies is that on
average they have six to seven times
as many Alcoholics Anonymous
groups per capita as non’temperance
countries. On this matter Iceland
has managed to achieve a remark-
able first - whilst it has one of the
lowest levels of alcohol consumption
in Europe, it has the highest ratio of
AA groups per head of population.
Something is not working.
What has become clear is cultures
that accept responsible social drink-
ing as a normal part of life have
less alcohol abuse than the cultures
that fear and condemn alcohol. The
drinking culture in Iceland really
does need to change. Yes, the laws
should change in line with other
European cultures, but that should
also happen as a determined effort
is made to reposition alcohol in the
Icelandic psyche.
Drinking to oblivion is not bad
morally. But it can and does lead
to fistfights, drunk driving and un-
wanted pregnancies as well as being
a bore for others who have to endure
it. There are a growing number of
serious musicians in Iceland who will
only play at early gigs as they want
their music heard and their lyrics
listened to but the environment that
exists in many clubs as midnight ap-
proaches prevents this.
How to avoid bad sex
Coming from England, a country
not renowned for the sexual prowess
of its males, it may sound a bit rich
commenting on Icelandic sexual
behaviour but I feel on solid ground
in referring to Europe’s more famed
lovers, the French and Italians, who
treat alcohol as a sexual stimulant
- not an anaesthetic. Perhaps it is
time that Icelanders did the same.
Getting blasted leads so often to bad
sex, unwanted bad sex, unwanted
babies, unwanted partners, unwanted
partners’ diseases. It really isn’t that
appealing.
Icelandic males will tell anyone who
will listen that this country has some
of the most beautiful women in the
world. If that is the case, why do
they have to get half comatose to
get into bed with them? And as for
the women, perhaps getting drunk
is the only way to make an Icelandic
male seem beddable. It just doesn’t
add up.
Icelanders have never travelled more,
and hopefully this exposure to coun-
tries with an enlightened approach
to drink will help. The defining mo-
ment will be when moderate use of
alcohol is encouraged and presented
as equally acceptable to abstinence.
At the same time, excessive drinking
will be seen as socially unacceptable
and certainly never accepted as an
excuse for bad behaviour. It´s the
way the rest of the world is going
and there is nothing to be gained in
Iceland not going with them.
I long to see families sharing a bot-
tle of wine over their lunch in the
cafés of Reykjavík. It may be a long
time in coming, but come it will.
It´s never been hard to stop drink-
ing. Getting ready for the first beer;
that´s the hard part. It took me a few
years. Thinking about whether to
start or not. Alcoholism in my family
and all that. But when I finally made
the decision, a whole bottle of Vodka
was down.
I remember, vaguely though, rolling
down the stairway in my block. It
was Christmas and a school dance I
was looking forward to. I even had
a girl waiting - my date. Something
every 16 year old is excited about.
The bottle was emptied and the
party over; somehow I got to the
dance.
It was on a boat. Disco lights
everywhere. My girl said hello but
I didn´t even recognise her. The
Russian liquor was the only thing on
my mind.
After a few minutes of me danc-
ing with myself I went to the deck,
rolled over, and laid there in my own
puke. It was really a magical mo-
ment. The headmaster, my teacher
and the student advisor walked
towards me. I only wanted to be left
alone.
“I think it´s time you go home,” the
headmaster said. There wasn´t much
room in my head for argument so I
did what he said.
That night changed my life. I had
a new friend and his name was
Smirnoff.
---
I miss those old times. Getting
drunk the first time is somehow
like losing your virginity. Very often
those things go hand in hand. My
first time with a woman was in Vest-
man Islands.
The night before I had emptied
a whole bottle of Hot and Sweet
- pepper vodka. My friends were
working in the town and I went to a
party at their place. After a few beers
my body got limp, somehow stopped
working. My head was pretty clear
though. I remember my friends
making a circle around me. Singing a
song about how drunk I was.
Then I got up and managed to run
out. The next thing I remember is
waking up down in the valley. With
no telephone, jacket, wallet or shoes;
only a handful of yellow credit car
notes in my pocket and a half full
bottle of Jack Daniels.
Trying to find myself I walked
around in a frenzy. Then somebody
yelled my name. I turned around
and saw two guys pointing at me
laughing.
“God you were drunk tonight,” one
of them said.
“Do I know you?,” I answered.
“I sure don´t hope so. We were
listening to the band when you
suddenly kicked your shoes off, un-
buttoned your pants and took a shit
on the dance floor. Then you wiped
your ass with some credit card notes
in your wallet. It was crazy.”
I suddenly remembered what I had
found in my pocket and ran away.
---
Those kind of things are bound to
happen when you are young. People
who don´t drink will never experi-
ence the beauty of a bad hangover
or a massive black out. But all good
things must come to an end. It was a
few days before my 17th birthday. A
Culture night in Reykjavík city.
I was drinking Smirnoff straight
from the bottle and got separated
from my friends. Suddenly I found
myself in a strange party. Everyone
dressed like Marylin Manson. Nick
Cave singing - Death is not the end.
Outside people were yelling. The
fireworks just ahead.
We got out and climbed on to a
rooftop. The sky exploded and eve-
rything turned black. Later someone
said I had almost rolled of the roof.
But the night wasn´t over. Not for
me at least. When I opened my eyes
I was hanging down from a light
post. The police yelling at me to get
down. I assembled all my energy and
screamed as high as I could:
“I´m an Icelandic Viking and I´m
making noise.”
Then, looking down, I saw my
parents. I waved at them and at the
same time lost my grip. It was a
beautiful ending to a Culture night
in Reykjavík and a turning point in
my life.
From then on things could only get
better.
“I´m an Icelandic viking and I´m making a noise!”
by Örn, Reykjavík poet
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President refuses to sign
The President refused to sign a
bill passed by Parliament which
would have proscribed cross-media
ownership. This is the first time in
the history of the Republic that the
President has refused to sign a bill.
The bill will now go to a national
referendum, the first in the history
of the Republic
Government and opposition
don´t get along
A meeting was convened between
government and opposition min-
isters as to how the referendum
was to be conducted, as no specific
rules exist. The meeting was broken
off after less than 15 minutes, in
a reputedly hostile atmosphere.
Parliament will reconvene on the
5th of July, even though this has
traditionally been a part of its long
summer vacation.
A group of young men, plotting no good
on the dancefloor, no doubt.
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