Last week I met a friend at a fashionable Auckland bar. I recognised the bartender, who looks like he is auditioning to be the next Keith Richards, although frankly, his mother wouldn’t even have been born when the Rolling Stones topped the charts. I asked him, “So, what do you have that is interesting and non-alcoholic?”. He did a lip curl. “A negroni?”
When I stopped drinking alcohol I thought it would be hard saying no, but I got it all wrong. Saying no to booze was easy – trying to find a way to explain this to other people was much harder.
You may not realise it, but we are all steeped in the alcohol Matrix. Drinking is our one acceptable defence mechanism in New Zealand. We use it copiously. We drink to celebrate, to commiserate, to mourn, to let off steam, to get laid, to connect.
Alcohol is sanctioned as one of the few acceptable ways to process our dark emotions: if you are angry, depressed or sad, it is frowned on here to keen, to wail, to let it all hang out, to express your misery in plain and unequivocal terms. But let me get you a cold one. Get that down ya.
Bu hikaye NEXT dergisinin February 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye NEXT dergisinin February 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
MOTHER AND SISTER
Linda Armstrong attended the Linwood Islamic Centre every Friday and on the day of the Christchurch mosque attack she confronted the shooter, asking him to stop. Now her daughter Angela Armstrong is going back over her mum’s footsteps to learn more about her conversion to Islam and the community she loved
Passion Project: How To Write A Romance
Have you ever secretly thought you could be the next Nora Roberts or Diana Gabaldon? Award-winning Kiwi romance novelist Bronwyn Sell takes you through her 10-step plan
Goodbye to DIETS
Author, psychologist and addiction expert Shahroo Izadi struggled with her diet for many years. She tells Stefanie Marsh about her journey to a healthier body and mindset, and helping others to find the same
Fight CLUB
A celebrity on a soapbox is nothing new, but as our news feeds fill with evidence of political unrest, gender inequality, and a worsening climate crisis, Phoebe Watt identifies three outspoken stars who aren’t just paying lip service to the important issues, they’re leveraging their influence, mobilising the masses and actually effecting change
Days of WONDER
When Catherine Gray resolved to start noticing small, day-to-day moments of delight, she found more joy than she could ever have imagined
The Dating Game
Lesina Nakhid-Schuster tells Monique McKenzie what it has been like swapping her job as a surgical registrar to become New Zealand’s first Bachelorette
Put Down Your Drink
Deborah has decided to leave the alcohol Matrix, but it’s not the giving up drinking part that’s causing her trouble
FERTILE GROUND
Since its introduction, more than eight million children have been born through IVF. We look at what the modern fertility landscape looks like in New Zealand and what’s yet to come
Escape to the country
After falling in love with an online real estate listing, Jackie Miller found herself purchasing a second home in a tiny Italian village. She tells Simone Momberg about her journey
The Joy Of Messing Up
The fear of failure can hold us back from many opportunities. But, says Kate Graham, embracing mistakes can be the key to success
