It’s October, so cheers. Well, maybe not.
You see, I have decided to join in the collective act of insanity – sorry, I mean sense of charitable giving– that is the Macmillan Cancer Care Sober October campaign.
For the next 31 days it’s goodbye to cheeky pints, farewell to a nice wee glass of wine with dinner and so long to those nips you have because, well just because.
Aye, the next month is going to be, ahem, interesting.
It is a thought – even though I’m a reasonably strict ‘not on a school night’ sort of cove and keep my tippling for weekends. That said I like having a drink. I like the taste. I like the buzz. I like the social side. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t do it
And it’s only when you consider stopping, even if just for a while, you realise how much alcohol is welded into social life here in Scotland.
It’s that swift pint on the way home at the end of the working week.
The heading down to the Marine to see chums and have a yak over a few jars. Going out for a meal that demands a nice bottle of wine. And let’s not forget just how much fun the tasting sessions with the Stonehaven Whisky Howff can be.
And I cannot be the only person on the planet who looks at his partner-in-crime and says, “I reckon it’s beer o’clock” when he’s out and about on a weekend.
Sober October highlights Scot’s intense relationship with alcohol
Let’s face it, we Scots have an intense and at times troubled relationship with alcohol, even while it runs parallel with our everyday lives, which is why so many of us approach challenges like Sober October as if we are running a marathon.
After all, if it were easy it wouldn’t be a fundraising challenge for such a worthy cause as Macmillan, would it?
Reactions to my declaration of Sober October have ranged from “Are you sure?” to the publicans of Stonehaven weeping into their bank balances. Oh, and even a cheeky: “So you’re stopping just to make sure you still can?”
That one deserves the Ernest Hemingway quote: “I drink to make other people more interesting.”
The real reason for my doing Sober October is quite prosaic. I was recently told my cholesterol level was too high, and my blood pressure was raising eyebrows.
Statins for one and a bit of personal maintenance for the other.
And if you are hitting the reset button on a healthy lifestyle, a dry month is a good leg up – that plus eating better and getting back to the gym, now I have accepted a dodgy back and knee means my running days are behind me.
So, the next month will indeed be a challenge – picture the Pavlovian drooling while watching Strictly without a glass of Malbec.
But I’ll manage just fine and Macmillan will get some much-needed funds for their amazing work
If you’re doing Sober October too, good luck (top tips welcome). And cheers to November 1.
Scott Begbie is a journalist and editor, as well as PR and comms manager for Aberdeen Inspired
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