I had my first drink when I went to a kegger in high school when I was 15. I loved the feeling of being drunk. I was a shy kid and when I was drinking at a party I felt much more relaxed and I would actually hang out and chat with *gasp* girls. Some of my best memories of high school are from going to parties where everyone was drinking. I never drank by myself. For me, it was always social. Just a way to hang out with friends and have fun.
Once I turned 21, I use to go out to bars and drink with friends at least once or twice a week.
After I got married and became a father, those trips out became much less frequent.
I still will have an occasional drink or two with dinner or maybe go out and get a few beers with a buddy, but I rarely get drunk.
The last time I was drunk was about 10 months ago. I was in New Orleans for a week for a software conference and I drank almost every night. The night I did the most drinking, the alcohol was actually provided by Microsoft. They sponsored a dinner party at Pat O'Briens and had an open bar with stuff like Absolut, Bacardi, and Crown Royal. I ordered a Bacardi and Coke and everytime I finished one, the waiter would already have given me another. The scary part was when after the party, a group of about 100 drunk computer geeks all headed to Bourbon street together. I had dinner with several of the conference speakers. One of them ended up pretty much getting carried back to his hotel room. All in all, it was a blast. But I wouldn't want to be a regular drinker. It took me a few days just to recover from that trip.