Choosing Not to Drink.

[sevenroses]

I'm not much of a drinker. I like my ice tea hehe

 

[Meisiemel]

I never did any socializing whatsoever until I was in my forties, so I avoided all of that peer pressure stuff. I drank for about 2 years when I started mixing with people but I stopped because I wanted to live a healthy, raw food lifestyle. All the people I hang out with are friends of my alcoholic boyfriend and most of them are heavy drinkers but they admire me for not drinking and say they wish they could be like me.Anyone who thinks drinking is cool is an idiot and you shouldn't care what they think or say about you for choosing to stay sober.

 

[dean01]

I know it's harsh language, but my experience with addicts (and there are all too many in my extended family) has not left me with much sympathy for their condition(s). It's too long-winded (and probably boring) to dive into, but I'll just say that the addictive personality correlates highly with many, many other faults, from dishonesty to promiscuity to selfishness. There are no doubt addicts who are simply good people with a problem, but in my opinion addiction is a symptom as much as a cause of ill-advised behavior.

It's not like heroin needles rain from the sky, making addicts of hapless passerby; you have to deliberately pursue and partake in practically all serious addictive substances.

peace

 

[awkwardamanda]

I hardly drink at all. Partly because I don't care to and partly because it's dangerous for me. I've only had alcohol a handful of times ever and never more than a drink or two. When I was a teenager I was never really around people drinking anyway. I had practically no social life and the friends I had didn't like to drink and party. It was no thrill once I turned 18 either. I've been to bars a few times. It's really not my thing. I don't like being around drunk people. I don't see what's so appealing about it. I have nothing against people drinking a little if it's just to have fun but after a point, it gets to be too much. I just don't see what's so fun about puking and doing stupid things and embarrassing yourself and not even remembering the fun you had. The once in a blue moon that I'll have a drink, it has to be something that tastes alright. I wouldn't just drink for the sake of a buzz. But the other thing is that I'm diabetic and so alcohol is bad idea. I have to be pretty careful with it. I get low blood sugar which means I have to eat something sugary and wait until I feel better. I usually just get kinda shaky and hungry but if left untreated I could potentially pass out and die. The thing with alcohol is that the liver can't release its backup sugar while it's trying to get rid of alcohol and so low blood sugar occurs faster. The trouble is, severe low blood sugar resembles drunkenness. Incoherence, slurring words, passing out, etc. So then everybody just sees a drunk person and ignores it when its actually an emergency. No thanks. I'll pass on the drama. I've been warned to be careful if I'm gonna drink and to have food with it and check my blood sugar often. Okay. But if I wanted to really drink I'd basically have to have somebody look after me and test my blood for me if I couldn't and make sure I had enough food before falling asleep. It's really not worth the hassle. I don't want to be babysat just so I can have a good time. Not that that's my idea of a good time anyway, but it spoils the so-called fun of drinking anyway. So there's really no point. I don't really bother trying to explain that to people though. I hate being at any sort of social gathering and someone says, "why aren't you drinking?" I'll just say "I usually don't," and they're still like, "why," totally puzzled. Who cares why? I have my reasons, just leave it be. I just hate that some people are so shocked that there are actually people in this world who don't drink. Sometimes I think if I were to suddenly have a drink it would just draw too much attention to me, simply because it isn't normal for me. I don't want people making a big deal, like, "woah, she's having a drink!" So I'm better off just saying no if I'm offered a drink. Also, I'd feel awkward drinking just cause I'm so dumb about it. I wouldn't know how to mix a drink. I wouldn't really know what to order at a bar either unless somebody gave me a suggestion. I've tried so few drinks and I'm not even sure what's in a lot of the drinks I've heard of, so I'd just feel stupid even trying to order a drink. I'm better off just sticking to iced tea or water if I'm thirsty.

 

[meanest_of_times99]

I used to have a bit of an alcohol problem, got past that and pretty much stopped drinking by the time I turned 21. I'll still have a beer once in a great while but that's about it. I don't really like the taste of most beer so I guess that helps dissuade me from drinking a whole lot. Vodka on the other hand, I like...a lot. So I tend to stay away from it.

Don't worry about catching any crap from anybody for choosing not to drink, nothing good comes from drinking anyway.