I dont drink Alcohol

obsidianwings

I've never been in the situation as I am a drinker, but could you maybe make sure you just buy your own drinks? The you could pretend they are alcohol haha. You know just an OJ or your choice of drink but say it has vodka or whatever (depending on what drink it is) in it.

BrionyTallis

I don't drink much anymore.... tomorrow is my birthday so that statement doesn't apply lol.
But I've been to several occasions lately where people are drinking and I just don't bring it up. If they bring it up I remind them I'm driving. If they persist I tell them I have a bladder infection. TMI always shuts people up :bigsmile: If it's someone I don't know and they are being pushy, I like to have fun with it..I tell them I'm a recovering alcoholic, or that I"m worried a drink will cloud my judgment and then I might violate my probation. haha
Something I used to do when I was single was make a pact with the bartender that he would serve me tonic water with lime and make it look like I had a gin and tonic. This kept people from thinking I needed a drink and if a guy was REALLY pushy, he would end up paying the price of a gin and tonic while I ended up getting water and the bartender got a nice "tip" Nice guys who simply offered were spared this scam, but super duper d-bags weren't so lucky lol

Gotta love this

mathjulz

I don't drink. I'm Mormon, and it's against our food guidelines to drink alcohol. Now, I am grateful for that decision - I have learned that not only was my great-grandfather an alcoholic (I've known that forever), but my mom is. She's been sober for about 20 years now, but that is a path I don't even want to think about starting down.

There are plenty of people (as I hope you've seen on this thread) who don't drink, for whatever reason. The "friends" who are pressuring you to drink in order to have fun or fit in aren't really friends. I think I would tell them straight up that you're not in high school any more, and that kind of peer pressure is tacky and immature. The real friends should accept your decision and respect it. (But then, I'm blunt like that! lol)

LilRedRooster

I'm a drinker, but my ex is not, and he used to get that all the time. People would give him such crap about it, but he never wanted to drink, and I understood it. He's just gotten really good at being thick-skinned over the years, so it never bothers him anymore, though it did initially. People still buy him drinks occasionally, even when he said no, and to give them the point, he would give them away to other people at the bar or tables, which sometimes pissed people off, but they wouldn't do it again.

laurajordana

I drink, but I'm choosing not to drink for all of May to save a bit of extra money for my holiday and assist my weight loss. Also, to prove to myself that I can go out with my friends and have fun without spending loads on cocktails and wine. It's only been a week and it's been incredibly hard. People look at me like I have two heads when I say I'm not drinking this month, a bunch of my guy friends insisted on buying me alcoholic drinks on saturday night despite me saying I'm not drinking and then they got angry when I didn't drink them because I wasted their money - like really, are you freaking kidding me?!

hah, me too. I'm taking May off as well... people at my work were joking that they were going to build a conveyor belt of beers and have them circle my desk and have it spray beer down my throat... wtf? and they are joking that i'm not fun this month... i work with a bunch of alcoholics.. lol. can't believe they said you wasted their money... that's just rude... their own fault for not taking you seriously, I'm pretty sure I'll get some of that crap at our next happy hour next week... but i really don't care, my real friends don't...

BrionyTallis

Reading through these posts, it seems to me like the nondrinkers feel like they are better then the drinkers. I dont know if thats the impression anyone else got, but thats what I got out of it.

I'm a drinker. Less frequent then I used to be but I still do it. I can go out and have fun without drinking but I have to say, it is kind of boring being sober while everyone else is trashed. I want to be in their world and get messy and run amuck and have no memory the next day - but not all the time. Sometimes I just dont want to drink, and everyone accepts that, because I'm not all I'M SOBER TONIGHT!!!! And as others have said, it means they get a free cab ride home as well :drinker:

I've read posts about why people don't/wan't to drink ... read some posts too about how insensitive drinkers try push non-drinkers to drink and tactics to deal with these insensitive folks ... read some posts from drinkers that it's not appropriate for drinkers to push non-drinkers to drink... read posts about people who drink occasionally, but honestly I didn't see any statement direct / indirect where a non-drinker said or seemed to be saying that the were better than drinkers.

What specific statement(s) lead you to believe that these posts by non-drinkers posters are making them out to be better than drinkers?

maryloo2011

If you're out and about and someone asks you why you're not drinking, just smile and say "I'm not a fan of alcohol, but I'll have a diet coke if you're offering"

THIS.

It's all about *confidence* when you are telling people in these social situations that you do not drinking.

cutmd

Tell them you're 4 years sober tomorrow, slap them in the face with a pair of gloves and yell HOW DARE YOU SIR!

Walk away and pretend it never happened. Works every time.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: love this one!

This thread is interesting, I was a non drinker most of my life but since grad school I have a drink every blue moon (the type where the alcohol is disguised). Most of my family are also non drinkers. We just say we don't drink and no one minds, especially if we drink/eat something and don't give them a hard time. I do bring nonalcoholic versions to wine and cheese parties, new year's eve, and other events where a special drink is tradition. Never a problem.

Course now that I'm preggo, NO one offers me a drink. Another thing to think about as a deterrent

nelso329

I just turned 21, my whole family and all my friends were hoping for a big party with tons of alcohol. Personally I dislike all things alcoholic and don't have any plans to drink, I have had some in the past but it isn't something I want for myself anymore. Don't let anybody get you down for marching to you own drummer, if your friends think fun is only to be had with alcohol then they are the ones who have yet to really have fun. Don't ever change who you are for others, we are the way we are for a reason, genetics helped shape who we are, don't think that there is ever any reason to change that.

DaughterOfTheMostHighKing

the year they changes the legal drinking age to 21 was the year I turned 21 ... I don't drink. I think I can thank my mom for giving me wine at 5 yrs. old telling me it was juice. I spit that out fast!!!! ick! I can't stand the smell of beer (old beer...) and I swell up when I drink straight wine. I can drink wine coolers that are mostly 7up or sprite, but not much.... I was raised catholic, so you'd think I'd like the taste... nope! I don't put people down for it... it's my choice.

thelovelyLIZ

Maybe you just need to hang out with some different people? I drink, but I have never seen anyone try to pressure a non-drinker into drinking. Most of the time we like having them around, because it means you always have a DD! But really, the people in your life should respect your choices about what you do and don't put in your body.

_Bob_

I drink more than I should but, I am well aware that you can have fun without it. you're welcome to not drink around me anytime. I feel bad for people that think they need to drink to have fun.

little secret... I'm just as crazy sober!

not all drinkers believe that everyone needs to drink to have fun

oh and I'm Drunk right now

ciaobella47

Tell them you're 4 years sober tomorrow, slap them in the face with a pair of gloves and yell HOW DARE YOU SIR!

Walk away and pretend it never happened. Works every time.

Love this! I'm hearing it in my head...but for some reason, with a Brittish accent.

jesusHchris

I ask for ten shots of whiskey and show them my incredibly scarred knuckles. That or one of the many youtube videos my friends have so graciously posted. They don't offer again.

joehempel

I'm not a drinker either.....but I tend to not even go to bars as well.

If anyone asks me I just say no thanks and move on. As you are a woman, it's probably alot harder because you have alot of men trying to pour drinks down your throat....I myself don't have that problem, guys don't want to buy me drinks :laugh:


My family knows I don't drink, so when they ask me I just say no and make fun of them when they get trashed and can't remember what the hell happened the previous day

Rizabees

I have friends who drink, they tend to make fun of my husband and I for not drinking.
They call us boring, and when we go to their "parties" [where we're normally the only people that show up] they set up a bowl of "kids drinks" for us and drink a lot of the alcohol punch by themselves.

I try not to let it bother me, they're not pressuring me and my husband to drink.
And I'm glad they don't drink as much as they used to, at least.

taso42

Just say, "I don't drink", and that's the end of it. If they have a problem, it's their problem, not yours. Depending on how snarky I am feeling at the moment, if they continued to harass me, I might suggest that I pee into a glass and make them drink it. "come on, its fun".

adellynr

Hello, I read your post and you are not alone. I do not drink alcohol either, for many of the reasons you listed as well as because of a personal vow I took which means a great deal to me. I personally see nothing wrong with drinking on occasion if that is what a person enjoys, however as you said drunk people are really not pleasant to be around (I have had that displeasure often growing up). Pressuring somebody into doing something that is fun for one person but very unpleasant for the person they are pressuring is always wrong. Don't ever let anyone tell you that something that is right for them is right for you, being as how everyone is an individual nobody has the right to tell anyone what is "fun" or right, we all have to decide that for ourselves. I admire this decision you have made for yourself, I know it must be very difficult dealing with the pressure at times but just remember to always stand up for yourself and your personal choices and I don't think you can go wrong.

knk1553

I am a drinker, but there has been multiple occasions where I drive for friends just because I don't feel like drinking or do go out without alcohol. I would try talking to your friends and family, I have plenty of friends who don't drink and I don't think twice about being out at a bar with them and they just order a water or something. some of them have even started ordering soda water with a splash of cranberry and asking the bartender to put it in a glass they would for someones drink instead of the plastic water cups so that they don't get questioned, it works pretty well. Just tell people you choose not to drink, I think its so odd when people pressure other individuals to drink, I've never been one to do it, but I definitely know some people who are pushy about it to other people and even to myself when I'm DDing ( I don't drink anything when I DD) so I definitely understand. Your family however should be supportive, I would say just tell them you don't really like alcohol and would like for people to stop pressuring to do things you don't want to do. I bet you know more people than you think who don't drink, you just would never know it

Zandia_1

My hippy parents allowed me to drink as a child, a taste of brandy here, some cognac there, egg nog during X-mas. The alcohol was kept at eye level and easily accessible. So I never felt it was something forbidden but I also didn't really enjoy the burning feeling down my throat and consequently I grew up without the need or want to drink. At family parties in my twenties I used to get the "why don't you drink?" questions, to which I would respond "why don't you smoke?" Then they understood that it was a personal choice.