The “Dry January” advertised by TV, newspapers, doctors and insurance companies will be followed by “Sober October” and so on.
But while many boomers can only take a temporary break from the day-to-day madness, Billie Eilish, Gen Z’s singing role model, is already living a dry lifestyle year-round. And Instagram also promotes non-alcoholic happiness, 20-year-old twins Lena and Lisa, for example, influencers with 20 million followers, announce freshly dried and sparkling with a pure smile: We do not drink, but We like to have fun!
Growing global trend towards youthful sobriety – alcohol consumption among young people in Switzerland has been steadily declining since 2002; in the US, 28 percent of college students now report abstinence—some older generations might see it as an auction of the remnants of a glamorous, excess life, a farewell to philanthropic looseness. As a further, ruthless advancement of a society of self-optimization, which requires you to keep yourself firmly in control and at the same time look fit, free and happy. Not least because social media never forgets booze.
But sobriety also serves as a sad testimony to the isolation of many. In the past, our Boomer thinks, you drank in your youth at the disco, sat in the park and twirled the bottle. What about boys today? Squatting with a mobile phone, alone at home. Of course, a full glass doesn’t make sense when chatting, streaming, or gaming. Who should you drink to?
Of course, the boys are right: alcohol can make you nauseous, aggressive, and addictive. Weakens self-control, discipline, efficiency. It is the drug of self-awareness and loss of self. It can trigger memories, but it can also fill them up or shower you with memories.
But boomer is happy he only has to wait two weeks before he can close his pitilessly clear gaze from time to time. Because sometimes the chatter of the world is unbearable, so ridiculous that it can roar, so idiotic that it can be brushed aside. It helps if you don’t even notice that your neighbor is saying the same thing for the tenth time. Everything will be fine.
Ursula von Arx likes to drink. And she’s always amazed at how many excuses she comes up with after she decides to stay sober for a few days. Von Arx writes to Bleek every second Monday.