Ah...the words peer pressure take me back in time. We heard those words voiced again and again during anti-drinking/drug/smoking units. (The units weren't anti-sex, though--they saved that message for the sex ed unit.)
Of course, I imagine one factor, too, is simply the people one is around. Some groups will probably put more pressure to drink than others.
Indeed. I recognized that in high school. This was about the time drinking ages were forced to go to 21, and a cited reason was to combat drunk driving. I asked my social studies teacher--even though we weren't in an state affected by this--why they didn't instead make penalties for drunk driving tougher. He commented politicians wouldn't want to do something that might later personally inconvenience them.
I think I was warned when I first had beer that it could be an acquired taste, but I don't recall hating it. That said, I prefer wine. The advantage of beer, though, is that it works well for the single person. One open a bottle--and not ever have wories about finishing it off before it goes bad.
