ADB Readership Survey 2000

So here we go with the answers from a total of 18 completed surveys. Some people chose more than one answer to questions which should only have one. In these cases each answer counted as a fraction of one i.e. 2 answers are counted as 2 x 0.5

Percentages are given in brackets after the number of votes and may or may not add up to 100 due to rounding and the amount of alcohol I consume while writing this.

1. Sex

I thought I'd start with a nice easy question which wouldn't confuse too many people.

Male 14 (78)
Female 3 (17)
Other 1 (6)

Other was chosen by one respondent who expanded the description as "male with grievously under-used genitals and alcohol-induced tits". To summarise, ADB is a bad place to go on the pull unless you're a chick who likes drunk men (with or without tits).

2. Age

Fetus 1 (6)
0-15 0
16-25 3 (17)
26-35 5 (28)
36-45 9 (50)
46-55 0
56-65 0
>65 0
Not Telling 0
Don't Know 0

The responses here indicate that a vast majority of ADB fall into the age-range of "should know better".

3. Education

None
School 1 (6)
College/University 13 (72)
Post-graduate 3 (17)
Timo 1 (6)

Now I was seriously impressed by this - even the respondent who answered "school" managed 2 months of college and therefore could technically have answered "college/university" since I deliberately didn't exclude drop-outs.

I left him/her in the "school" category though, since he/she should have been smart enough to figure that out ;-)

4. Finances

Binks 2 (11)
Po' 8 (44)
Comfortable 8 (44)
Well-off 0
Millionaire 0

Hmmm.... considering how well the average DB is educated, we're not exactly rolling in money. I wonder where all that money could be going?

5. Amount of alcohol consumed per week in "units". One unit is half a pint of beer, a glass of wine or a standard measure of spirits.

0
1-20 1.8 (10)
21-50 4.3 (24)
51-100 8 (44)
101-150 2 (11)
151-200 0.3 (2)
>200 0
Shane MacGowan 1 (6)

Many people gave multiple responses to this one to indicate "typical" weeks and "heavy" weeks. The choice of limits at the lower end of the range were no coincidence, as 1-20 indicates "healthy" drinking and 21-50 "dangerous" drinking levels.

I was initially disappointed by those respondents whose drinking was either "healthy" or only "dangerous" until I looked further down their answers to the section on drugs. Suffice to say that many of you are more than compensating for your comparitively meagre alcohol consumption.

The majority are well over the "danger" level for alcohol consumption and one respondent even considered his drinking to be worthy of "Shane MacGowan" status. As a final note, those of us who have had to actually measure our consumption by counsellors all know that estimations of quantity drunk are usually about half of the actual intake.

Oh yeah, and I know the numbers don't add up on this one but they're close and I'm fucked if I'm adding them up again.

6. Alcoholic drinks commonly consumed

Apologies for leaving cider and fortified wine off the list in the survey.

Beer 15 (83)
Cider 1 (6)
Wine 11 (61)
Fortified wine 1 (6)
Spirits 11 (61)
Meths 0
After-shave 0
Anti-freeze 0
All of the above 2 (11)

One respondent who I think we all know, answered "Weizen". This answer was grouped with the others for "beer".

7. Have any of the following people told you to cut down on your drinking?

Doctor 9 (50)
Family 16 (89)
Partner 10 (56)
Friend 10 (56)
Bartender 7 (39)
Shane MacGowan 1 (6)

There were numerous comments to the tune of partners and friends offering such advice becoming ex-partners/friends. Unfortunately the most common source of unwanted advice on drinking is harder to get rid of (legally).

8. Other substances tried

Cannabis 12 (67)
Amphetamines 5 (28)
LSD 4 (22)
Magic Mushrooms 6 (33)
Cocaine 3 (17)
Heroin 0
Crack 0

All of the above 4 (22) - not included in totals above
Keith Richards 0

Other:
Morphine 1
Peyote 1
MDA 1
Meth 1
Nitrous 1
Pethidine 1
Codeine 2

A good score (pun intended) for cannabis, and an honorable mention for the 22% who managed "all of the above". Oh, and I should mention that one respondent had not tried *any* of the substances listed. If your employer reads this newsgroup, you can pretend to be him/her.

9. Due to drink have you:

Been told by the police to go home 10 (56)
Been taken home by police 6 (33)
Been arrested 5 (28)
Done time 1 (6)
I am currently a fugitive 2 (11)

Well considering how much we all drink, we do a reasonable job of staying out of trouble. Nah - not really. There was a noticeable correlation between age and encounters with officers of the law. I'm sure the younger members of the group will catch up.

10. I have been reading ADB for:

Less than a year 1 (6)
1-2 years 7 (39)
3-4 years 7 (39)
5 years and over 2 (11)

The more alert among you will notice that the above responses do not add up to 18. That's because one respondent answered "WHAT IS IT?". I'm tempted to name and shame this individual, but I promised to keep things confidential.

11. Which of the following have you done while drunk?

This was the question I was most looking forward to seeing the answers to. Many people added answers of their own and these are prefixed by a dash.

Broken a computer 14 (78)
-Fixed a computer 1
Driven a car 14 (78)
Crashed a car 10 (56)
Piloted a boat 9 (50)
Flown an aeroplane 0
Gone to w*rk 18 (100)
Lost control of a bodily function 13 (72)
Started a fight 11 (61)
Stripped naked 11 (61)
Got married 1 (6)
Fired a gun 8 (44)
Passed-out 18 (100)
Passed-out and had some body hair shaved off 3 (17)
Fallen off a bar stool 15 (83)
Had sex with someone inappropriate 10 (56)
Juggled Chainsaws 0
-Juggled Tarantulas 1
-Cut own hair 1
-Chop human-supported fruit with a sword 1

What can I say? no surprise at the 100% response to having passed-out, but going to w*rk drunk proved amazingly popular. If your employer reads this newsgroup, tell them you didn't respond to the survey.

83% had fallen off bar-stools which highlights a design weakness in these items. There also appears to be a design weakness in cars, as 10 out of the 14 respondents who had driven cars while drunk had crashed them.

12. How do you think you are most likely to die?

Old-age/natural causes 3.5 (19)
Alcohol-induced medical condition (eg cirrhosis) 6 (33)
Accident while drunk 5 (28)
Suicide 2 (11)
Eaten by cannibals 0
Immortal 1.5 (8)

One respondent argued that alcohol-induced medical conditions and accidents while drunk fell under the definition of "natural causes". Many people hedged their bets on this one, and picked more than one. Including one who wasn't sure if they were immortal or not. This is one thing I think it's very important to be 100% sure of.

13. Was this survey...?

Pointless and stupid 6 (33)

There were several comments about this, my favourite being "fucking embarrassing"

Beavis

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