Everyone, or rather lots of people, or rather some people, have been talking a lot in the last few weeks about the fun the Scottish football fans had in Boston. The American actor Matt Damon told a story on TV the other night about a bunch of fans (a group of fans) who were standing on the sidewalk (pavement) outside a liquor store (off-licence) when a woman walked in and bought a bottle of water and the fans booed her. Not only is the story deadass funny (slightly amusing), it’s revealing about the attitude that Scots, or rather lots of Scots, or rather some Scots, have to drinking and alcohol, or used to. Things are changing.

One of the most obvious changes is the attitude of the young. When I was growing up, getting very drunk was something to be very proud of, especially if it led to you doing something very stupid. In fact, I can say here and now that it was not Scottish football fans who invented the idea of putting traffic cones on top of other things, it was me, in the 1980s. If the internet had existed then, there would be pictures of me, post-pub, stopping the traffic in Market Street in Aberdeen by sitting down in the middle of it with a traffic cone on my head. And do you know there are some young people now who would not find that absolutely hilarious and would prefer to be doing something more productive instead, like studying or going to the gym. Can you believe it?

The stats back it up. According to the most recent report from the campaigning charity Drinkaware, half of young adults are choosing no and low-alcohol drinks, double what it was in 2018. There’s also been a growth in the use of no and low-alcohol drinks by all adults, rising from 31% in 2018 to 44% now. Karen Tyrell, the CEO of Drinkaware, says swapping a regular beer or wine for a no or........

© Herald Scotland