NB, as someone who IS an alcoholic (21 years sober as of yesterday), I find your comment off-base on three counts.

First, it’s just rude and mean, something the author has learned is not a great way to be. What a great insight he has gained; you might want to think about it.

Second, it’s useless and almost meaningless for anyone OTHER THAN the individual himself to say he is or isn’t an alcoholic. Almost all alcoholics resist being told they are alcoholics — denial, as the saying goes, is not just a river in Egypt. There are no single guaranteed definitions. You’re an alcoholic if you say you are, and if you don’t say you are, nothing anyone else says matters.

But perhaps most importantly, every alcoholic I know went through significant periods of desperately wanting to believe they were a “normie,” someone who could drink just as you suggest. Are there such people? Of course — they’re the majority. But most alcoholics wasted years desperately seeking to prove they could take it or leave it. Everyone had their own list of “well I never did X,” and it kept them out there too long.

So what? So, whether the author is or isn’t an alcoholic is a useless and even meaningless discussion to anyone but him. And it sounds to me like, whatever he’s doing and thinking is working pretty well for him. That’s really pretty much all that matters. It’s all personal and individual.