I dont drink Alcohol

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Replies

  • coloradocami
    coloradocami Posts: 368 Member
    If someone is just trying to be a good host/hostess I'll just say "I'd love a .... (whatever you do drink)" Most the time they are just trying to be nice.
    If someone is truly pressuring you to drink (a) you need new friends and (b) it's not about you, it's their problem.
  • Ribena145
    Ribena145 Posts: 201 Member
    bumped from another non-drinker :bigsmile:
  • gogojodee
    gogojodee Posts: 1,243 Member
    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" ;)

    Love it!! :D

    Ditto! I am stealing that, haha only I don't drink Diet so I'll just ask for a Coke! lol!
  • teephil
    teephil Posts: 135 Member
    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.
  • Derpina7
    Derpina7 Posts: 552 Member
    I very rarely drink too. I don't mind the occasional one, but honestly, I'm just cheap :P. I am very lucky to have found friends that feel the same way, I know how incredibly rude it is to have people pressure you into drinking and then looking at you like you're an alien when you don't accept. I have plenty of fun going out dancing and being 100% sober!
  • Gergal73
    Gergal73 Posts: 36 Member
    Hello,
    I am a non drinker, not for the health reasons (although that's an added benefit of not drinking) but because i just dont like the taste of it, and i know people who abuse it and i dont want to be like them.
    Im getting really tired of meeting people, going to events, seeing my family and having this pressure to drink alcohol. I have maybe half a glass of wine one a year on my birthday, just to stop people bugging me about it. I dont like how when i meet people for the first time, they put so much pressure on me, as if i wont be able to have fun if i dont drink, or that im miserable and boring, its very upsetting. (they call me boring to my face, even though im a very happy person with a sense of humour, without the drink doing it for me)
    Is there anybody else who doesn't drink here? what do you say to people when they almost try to force it down your neck so you can 'have fun'?
    When i say 'oh sorry, i dont drink' they have a face of dissapointment, buy me a alcoholic drink anyway, and i get really annoyed at that.

    Hey girl, I don't drink, I've never tasted alcohol unless Listerine counts :tongue: and never will. It's not the tastes, it's for obedience to my faith in God, his love completes me more than a temporary buzz, or state of drunkenness. I simply tell people "no" I don't drink, and I'll be 21 on my birthday and I still won't drink then even though most people around me will expect me to. I mean you simply just need to stick to how you feel about the whole situation. you don't have to explain yourself unless they want the explanation. I've specifically broken friendship ties with people who seem to believe they have the power to "call" me out for not drinking. so yeah :)

    This answer sums up what I want to say. I'm another who has never tasted alcohol and never will. I will be 39 on my birthday and have never been tempted by alcohol. It's perfectly okay to say no. If people can't accept that then that is their issue and not yours. Stick to your guns - it's not something that should become a big deal. It's rather a small issue in the scheme of life. Good luck! :happy:
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
    im so glad im not alone!

    Thanks for all your responses, i wouldn't say its my close friends, they understand. But a work outing for example (in South Africa, its all about how much you can drink, so there is a lot of negativity towards me). Or even when you go to a club because I DO like to have a good time, and you order a water, and you get ridiculed by the barman because he thinks your on some kind of drugs drinking water.

    Anyway, i have my dads wedding coming up in 2 weeks, and he is incredibly proud that i dont drink, but there will be a few people my age there who will be, but I will rise above it and be proud that i have a near perfect liver :laugh:
    You could always tell them you have an allergy to alcohol... if you drink too much it makes you throw up ;-p

    I drink but I'd never pressure my friends who don't.

    The pressure is not cool, but it sounds like the social bias is a bit different than most parts of the US, which is my only experience. I have a vegetarian pal on here who has complained of the same sorts of pressure and insults (though no one buys her meat), so maybe the person who said that we all get picked on for something is right...

    Keep your head high!
  • ChasingSweatandTears
    ChasingSweatandTears Posts: 504 Member
    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
  • fragilegift
    fragilegift Posts: 347 Member
    I don't drink because I *can.* I can get drunk and wake up perfectly fine the next day. I also know that I could drink all day every day, that tendency is always there, so I don't. Add to that its a waste of money and empty calories, and as such I see no real need to drink.

    People who push me to drink can be annoying. If I don't see a need to drink (even if you're paying) why should I? I don't *need* a drink with a meal, or when I go out. Water is fine for me. Pushing me to drink just gets my back up and makes me want to avoid social occasions with you.
  • Nerdy_Rose
    Nerdy_Rose Posts: 1,277 Member
    I drink.

    Sometimes, I drink a whole lot.

    BUT my boyfriend, whom I love dearly, was a non-drinker until the age of 26. A few years later, he has maybe one drink occasionally. Doesn't like the taste, etc.

    So, not everyone who drinks is a butthead to non-drinkers.
  • shellebelle87
    shellebelle87 Posts: 291 Member
    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:
  • WhitneyAnnabelle
    WhitneyAnnabelle Posts: 724 Member
    Lolololo circleherk can also be a VERY derogatory term in the same use.. So I would caution the use of it... JS.

    :laugh: I'm almost in tears from that exchange.

    Hahaha, yeah, I think everyone is missing the connotations/meaning of "circle jerk". I won't get into specifics of course. But I will say this: imagine everyone in a circle, doing the same thing to one another...

    I drink occasionally, but can definitely relate to the pressure put on non-drinkers. It's not very fun. And I also hate being the DD.
  • InkedBeauty89
    InkedBeauty89 Posts: 114 Member
    Im right there with you. I dont drink. Dont enjoy it one bit.
  • BrionyTallis
    BrionyTallis Posts: 90 Member
    It's funny, I have the same issue with sweets. Cake and what not. I don't like it (and don't like how it makes me feel). But same thing: people shoving sweets at me at parties (graduation season is upon us) and acting like I've offended them when I say no.

    Stay firm!

    OK, now THAT'S weird. :wink:
    :tongue: Just hate the stuff. Especially frosting. ACK.

    Actually I don't find it weird ... I am the same way ... I like the taste of the "cakebread" sometimes but it it's butter cream frosting I cut around it and will eat the cake without the frosting. Some cake it's not worth cutting off the frosting because it's just gross anyway. If I eat frosting it is usually whipped or cream cheese but then I can only stomach so much of it ... Sorry off topic!

    But I don't drink except for special occasions and then I usually don't finish the glass for many of the reasons cited here.
  • JessieArt
    JessieArt Posts: 275 Member
    Not to interrupt the sober circlejerk happening here, but I'm just chiming in on the behalf of folks who *do* drink but aren't a**holes about it to those who don't. If your friends give you grief about not wanting to drink with them, find new friends.

    As far as pushy guys in bars go, "No thanks, I'm driving tonight" is an effective refusal of both the explicit offer of a drink and the implicit offer of sex.

    circlejerk?

    Not heard that word before, hoping it isnt rude.

    I never said people who drink are a**holes, and i never said the people who put pressure on me are my close friends. I also never said i get chatted up.

    So thank you for your very defensive input.

    Sorry, Reddit habit. "Circlejerk" in the sense I used it refers to a conversation wherein the only thing anyone expresses is some variant of "I am in agreement with that statement." It's mostly pointless because there's no real discussion going on. When I hit reply, basically all of the posts in this thread were basically "I don't drink either!"

    I also never said people who drink are a**holes, fullstop. People who drink AND GIVE YOU A HARD TIME ABOUT NOT DOING SO are a**holes, it doesn't matter how close you are with them. It's good that your close friends don't bother you about your preferences, but some people aren't so lucky, and that was the audience to whom "get some new friends" was directed. Others have also replied to this thread. I am acknowledging them and the situations they describe as well.

    Thanks for explaining "Circlejerk", I had honestly never heard that word before, and you were right, it was a circlejerk ha ha! :flowerforyou:

    Ummm that's NOT what a circlejerk is. Don't search for it or you'll pull up porn. Just sayin'

    Also, I have, on occasion, told people I'm allergic to alcohol to get them to leave me alone if I didn't want to drink.
  • Bikerjewelz
    Bikerjewelz Posts: 67 Member
    Lolololo circleherk can also be a VERY derogatory term in the same use.. So I would caution the use of it... JS.

    :laugh: I'm almost in tears from that exchange.
    I'm just saying... Where I'm from, reading that I took it as a HUGE shot.. Basically to me it means, just doing what ever it takes to please someone regardless of consequences and in a meanspirited way... Ie: A bunch of idiots wanking each other... Xp
  • MuffRuff
    MuffRuff Posts: 238 Member
    I do not drink either. Whenever someone tries to pressure me I tell them off in a nice way and have nothing to do with that person. Why would I want to be around people that try to pressure me. A lot of people just want you to do what they do because they are jealous that you can resist. I have learned to hang around people who do not drink and who have similar interest as me.
  • JessieArt
    JessieArt Posts: 275 Member
    Lolololo circleherk can also be a VERY derogatory term in the same use.. So I would caution the use of it... JS.

    :laugh: I'm almost in tears from that exchange.
    I'm just saying... Where I'm from, reading that I took it as a HUGE shot.. Basically to me it means, just doing what ever it takes to please someone regardless of consequences and in a meanspirited way... Ie: A bunch of idiots wanking each other... Xp

    Well, where I am from it literally means a bunch of guys in a circle jerking each other off. Never heard it used any other way. :wink:
  • BrionyTallis
    BrionyTallis Posts: 90 Member
    Lolololo circleherk can also be a VERY derogatory term in the same use.. So I would caution the use of it... JS.

    :laugh: I'm almost in tears from that exchange.
    I'm just saying... Where I'm from, reading that I took it as a HUGE shot.. Basically to me it means, just doing what ever it takes to please someone regardless of consequences and in a meanspirited way... Ie: A bunch of idiots wanking each other... Xp

    Yep that's they way I took when I first saw it posted
  • Dinob661
    Dinob661 Posts: 251 Member
    I have not had a drink, nor will I. I Have to much fun Sober. so whats the point of getting drunk or buzzed to have fun?
  • obsidianwings
    obsidianwings Posts: 1,237 Member
    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
    BrionyTallis Posts: 90 Member
    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
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    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
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
    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
    laurajordana Posts: 48 Member
    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
    BrionyTallis Posts: 90 Member
    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
    maryloo2011 Posts: 446

    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
    cutmd Posts: 1,168 Member
    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 :wink:
  • nelso329
    nelso329 Posts: 2 Member
    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
    DaughterOfTheMostHighKing Posts: 1,436 Member
    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.
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