I drink...I may go months and months without a drink....I may have a couple a week....I have friends and family that both drink and don't drink....no one seems to care what anyone else is doing....it would be depressing to have friends that dropped my after I stopped drinking with them....though I have never just gone out and drank to get drunk.
I hate being drunk I figured that out when I was very young....I enjoy nice dinners out and wine....I enjoy beer and natcho's with hubby once and awhile...but I have lots of fun without drinking too!
I drink absolutely no alcohol due to my genetic liver disease. Not because I don't want to. I wouldn't want to get drunk but an occasional margarita would be nice. Oh well, I can NEVER drink. I have definitely been the designated driver on many occasions. Really driving a car load of drunks around isn't my idea of a good time. No one picks on me for not drinking, they know why I can't. But yeah, sometimes I feel like I'm just "no fun".
I don't drink and don't care about alcohol. DH figured out very young that he is an alcoholic (thank God, before anything really 'happened', he just knew that he never just wanted ONE beer he always wanted LOTS) so I don't drink because he can't. It doesn't bother me a bit. I don't really spend much time with people who drink excessively, although many friends and family have a glass or bottle of wine when we're out to eat. I don't care that they drink and they don't care that I don't.
Anyway, just wanted to chime in that there are MANY people who don't drink. Socially adjusted people who do drink, but don't drink excessively, usually don't care if others don't drink.
Another non-drinker here, but I'm only doing it because DH and I are TTC right now. If we weren't, we'd probably go out for drinks once every two weeks or so. Drinks for me means 2-3 beers or 1 glass of wine.
I respect people who don't drink, but also feel that, since deciding not to drink, our friends haven't treated us any differently. We are out here in cowboy land where drinking, in my opinion, is looked at in a different manner. Both DH and I grew up knowing that adults drank, but also knowing that there is a limit. I get SO frustrated with the naivete of parents who always told their kids NO and then found out (much later, most of the time) that dear little son/daughter was the drinker in their group of friends in college. I just hope that as long as we explain specifically what the ramifications are for drinking excessively, and lead by example, our kids will be able to enjoy drinking and not abuse it.
I choose not to drink simply because it's empty calories that I don't want to waste. I have no emotions about that either way. While people don't hassle me and I have no problem going to a bar and ordering juice, I will step up to someone trying to leave with their keys in hand.
I drank in the past, my mother was an alcoholic, but I never felt that call. I do however have the addictive tendencies toward food. I think many of us have that personality, it's just a matter of how we act it out ie. gambling, spending, etc.
I used to drink like a fish! When I was in my late teens and earlier twenties. Then, one too many hangovers ruining a weekend trip made me realize it was SO not really fun and I felt like I was poisoning myself. A friend of mine I knew when I was a teenager died of liver disease at 41...directly tied to drinking from an early age. It is, literally, poison and has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, in my book.
Then there was that time when I was about 20 and I met a cute guy at a bar and gave him my business card. Next day, he came to my work to see me and I said, "ACK!! Who the heck are YOU!!" and he told me I met him the night before and to come see me. Bleh! Funny how dim lights and a few drinks clouds your judgement.
I wouldn't say I'm a NON drinker, though, but a special occasion drinker, putting a bit of Bailey's in my coffee at Christmas time or sharing a bottle of bubbly with my husband on our anniversary. I love to drink wine, but HATE the way it makes me feel...I get serious water retention from it and a massive hangover from just a glass or two. So, I skip it for the champagne...it doesn't seem to bother me.
Nowadays, nothing is more annoying to me than a room full of drunkards. Bleh. I was invited to a cocktail party last Christmas and turned it down for this reason. I have better things to do with my brain cells than 'party' with a bunch of people. I'd rather stay home and crochet and watch hockey. GO SABRES!!
When I joined WW I basically stopped drinking because to me it was wasted points... I'll have the occassional drink and did get drunk once since WWabout 3 months before I got pregnant (for any runners out there it was at the Boilermaker... drinking after running isn't a great idea:P ). Since having the baby I have had 2 drinks, but that's it (one at Christmas, one at a birthday)... I am not a big drinker anyway and really don't miss or crave it...
I'm a non-drinker too. Never had a full drink ever. Occasionally I'll try a sip of something, but everything tastes pretty bad to me. Never stopped me from going to happy hour and ordering a water. I gave up soda in high school and don't like coffee or tea, so pretty much all I drink is water. For the most part people don't make a big deal about it. Sometimes I'll get someone who thinks I must be a recovering alcoholic or something, but I don't worry about it.
I'm a non-drinker Never had a single drink in my life
(being only 22 so it's only been 2 years but still.. ^_^)
I don't want to drink because I know how stupid drunk people are, (when they are drunk) and I know how bad it is for you. All my family members are pretty heavy drinkers. My father and uncle can down a 30 pack between them in one night if they wanted to.
My uncle had to stop drinking due to needing liver tests now, my father cut back a lot too. (He and his brother are drinking buddies)
my mother was a party animal before she got sick, she could drink anyone under the table. Growing up around that, many people are surpised that I don't drink, or even have any desire to drink. I find the very smell of alcohol nasty. I don't see how people can really drink that stuff. Wine is the worst. My dad bought a bottle of very good wine for a party and I was tempted to take a taste but the smell of it had me gagging.
Peers ask me why I don't drink, being over 21 and all. I just say it goes against my personal morals. what is the point of getting drunk? Alchohol pops brain cells, and I need all the brain cells I can get. ^_^
I remember going to a party right out of high school, only had two beers, and I was out. I did not like that feeling, nor not knowing what could have happened to me under that condition. I have never had a drink since then, and I have nothing against people who enjoy drinking, as long as they don't drive after drinking. One of my very good friends from high school was killed by a drunk driver, and I have no tolerance for it at all.
I don't drink, mainly cause I see it as a waste of my calories. I don't care for the taste much.
My m-i-l is a nondrinker and one time at a party a woman came up to her and started screaming at her that my m-i-l was not better than she was. Anyone who knows my m-i-l knows she is truly the nicest person ever, and it was quite obvious that this woman had many problems.
Personal attacks reveal much more about the attacker than the attackee.
I do drink wine. In fact, depending on what we have for dinner, I'll have a glass or 2 of wine. That is my choice.
We have guests over who do and don't drink. My feelings are that this is a personal choice. If someone is a non drinker, I try to have other things around for them to enjoy with their meals. Sometimes I'll ask that they bring something to drink if I'm unsure of what they want.
I find it deplorable to make fun of or belittle someone for chosing not to drink.
I'm a firm believer that you can be sociable and have a drink. However, if you have to have a drink to be sociable, then you have a problem. I found myself in that situation and decided to get rid of the situation. I told DH that I was not going to put myself in that situation with those people and their beliefs any longer and if he intended to keep those people in his life, then he could hurry out the door before I slammed it on him.
Needless to say, those people are no longer in our lives.
My DD and her fiance don't drink very often. When they came over for New Year's eve dinner, they asked if they could have a small amount of wine. I was happy to give them some. They each took a sip or two of their wine. That's all they wanted. That was perfectly fine with me. I was surprised they asked for some.
You keep sticking to your guns here. It's OK not to drink. Barking at someone to try and force them into having a drink is just as bad as barking at someone because they do have a drink.
Not really a drinker but I guess having a drink once a year or every other year makes me a drinker. I don't go to bars, etc. and I don't keep liquor in the house. But I may have a drink while eating out or on New Year's Eve or our wedding anniversary. I can honestly say though the last time I had a drink was New Year's Eve 2005.
That's terrible that someone would drop you as a friend because you don't drink. And I can only imagine the things you have seen in the ER.
I consider myself a non-drinker, even on New Year's Eve I will pick the sparkling cider rather than the expensive 'fine' champagne. I am married to an alcoholic and it's no picnic. I have learned to deal with it in my own way. He comes from a family of alcoholic parents, grandparents.... and my SIL's and BIL's whether or not alcohol is their drug of choice, they have addictive tendencies with other substances. I am trying my best to educate my now 7 y.o. son on the dangers of drinking and illicit drug use so he is better equipped to make the right choices down the line. (My in-laws are a great example of what not to be like!)
I was a party-girl drinker while in high school, it seems like doing the forbidden was the only allure of it. Once I became of age and set out on my own, I didn't really feel the need. I seem to have gotten the "party" out of my system at a young age and am thankful for that. My husband is a wonderful provider, loving father and my best friend. Other than the drinking problem, I couldn't ask for a better man. If your friends drop you because you've stopped drinking, they weren't really your friends at all.
Thank you all...Its really good to know how many of you do not drink and know how people can pressure you at times...
I wrote so much about the illeffects of drinking...may be because I wanted to tell all these things to DH's friends and didnt! I do not care if they like to drink or not...its their choice and what I do is my choice.
I felt extremely bad (almost like highschool pressure)! and I really dont want to meet them again because I know they are going to laugh behind my back and make fun of me for this! But like of you said above,"ITS THEIR PROBLEM"!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Siena1383
You're right that there's a genetic pre-disposition to alcoholism for some people, but I believe that it can be tested for. The vast majority of people who drink are not alcoholics.
The tests are called genomics test and are very very expensive and are never done routinely (so in the current day and age, I think these tests are as good as non-existant)
It is also worth noting that the number 1 cause of all psychiatric illnesses and number 1 cause of all ER admissions are alcohol!
number 1 cause of all domestic/spousal/child abuse is alcohol!
number 1 cause of all road traffic accidents is alcohol!
number 1 cause of all liver diseases (fatty liver and cirrhosis) is alcohol!
Last edited by willmakeit; 01-11-2007 at 08:58 PM.
