Anyone here not drink alcohol?

x9999999

I haven't had a drink in 2 years. Decided after a crazy New Years and meeting a certain someone I would stop. I still go out occasionally and just order a Red Bull or water and make money off people at shuffleboard. It does get old driving friends around though.

 

I don't like to drink. I do however enjoy hanging out with my drinking friends. They are a trip when they get to throwin em back. Plus my rules are I drive their vehicles and use their money if I want something while driving them around. When I was in college I would keep track of my roommates making sure they didn't do anything to stupid.

 

I have a few good friends who don't drink. Not even a single beer. Nothing wrong with it. Its just a personal choice and if people can't respect that decision then you should find new friends who do. People should have to drink to fit it. With that said, I only drink socially. At most 1-2 times per month, sometimes not at all even. I don't drink to get drunk, but I think having a beer with the guys is refreshing. Or having a glass of wine with the gf isn't so bad either.

 

In my case, the likely effect before the vision/balance or the puking was almost universally a blackout. Not good.

Someone once asked how I can go to a concert and not drink and talk to people. After I got done laughing I said "I don't go to concerts to talk, I go to hear the band". I then told them that since I'm not dropping $75-$100 on booze I can afford to go to a lot of shows.

Re the "social" thing, I play darts in a league and have for 13 yrs. For better or for worse, alcohol usually goes hand in hand with darts in reality and most always in other people's perception. I have been sober almost 11 of those 13 years and run 2 of the leagues now.

 

I don't drink very often at all. hanging with my buddies that do is usually no problem. I can nurse a beer for hours if need be.

 

I don't do alcohol or drugs because they have nothing to offer that's any better than what I already have.

 

I have a buddy who doesn't drink and everyone else is usually hanging out having beers. Doesn't seem to bother him he'll have his soda or water and we don't give him any shit about it.

In the younger days I could see it maybe being awkward when you'd drink to get shit faced and it might be weird being sober. Now that those times are well passed and people are just having a few beers its fine for anyone around not drinking.

 

I like drinking as much as anyone, but there are plenty of times when I'm out somehwere and I know I have to drive home so I just skip it. I'll drink water or have like one beer and try and nurse it for like an hour. The only time it gets annoying is when your freinds are getting shitface and you have to babysit them. But the older I get the less that happens.

 

No drugs, no alcohol for 11 years now. Best thing I ever have done for myself. If drunk people bother you, leave before everyone gets truly drunk. Just because I don't drink, doesn't mean everyone has to.

 

YUP! Just because I stopped drinking the bar isn't going to stop serving and the liquor store isn't going to close the doors.

 

A few weeks ago some other in my office and I went to a bar to watch some basketball. I'm the only one under 21 and was the DD. I went expecting to be bored and left out, but I had a great time and laughed a lot! So it is possible to go out with others and have fun without feeling like you have to drink with them.

 

Occasionally... Beer fills me up and I just feel full. Never even liked it until I was around 21. I don't mind having a beer when we go out for dinner every once in a while or if I hang out with some friends. I hate how I feel after I'm drunk.

 

I'm in the same boat, OP. I don't mind BSing depending on subject, but all the others fit me as well. It can be awkward hanging out and the only one not drinking, but sometimes it can be interesting to see others make complete asses out of themselves

I have seen alcoholics take it too far, and the long term effects of what it does to a person.

 

Thank You everyone for sharing your experiences!

I have had some pretty interesting experiences when i'm around people who are drinking. I actually got into a fight with a friend of a friend's a few years back because he was offended that I didn't accept a beer he was offering me. I politely declined but he didn't believe that I didn't drink alcohol and thought I had "beef" with him.

He was baffled that there were people around that didn't drink beer or any kind of alcohol that weren't either super religious or recovering alcoholics.

We turned out to be pretty good friends. (funny how that works)

 

Lol. Never thought of it that way. I just pretty much hate people. The larger the crowd, the more the stupid seems to ooze from them.

 

That happened to me a few years ago..a new guy at the dart tournament I used to run weekly offered to buy me a drink and I declined. He told me later after he got to know me that he thought I was "too good" to take a beer from him. Haha

 

First of all, it depends on who I'm with as to whether I drink or not. If I'm with my old boss, I'll toss a few back. Usually won't get drunk, though I have before. I'm not comfortable drinking around any other people, and I don't do parties. Because things just get out of control, and you never know what will happen, especially if you are around people you don't really know.
I'll usually nurse a beer, maybe two, depending on how long I'm there, but I won't touch any if I've got to drive. I'll engage myself in other ways, and if people are encouraging me to drink, I'll usually find a way to pour mine out as I go- a little here while I pretend to pet the dog, a little here while I walk around the fire, a little here as I pretend to go take a piss... ya know. I try not to get stuck in situations like that- it's only happened twice, because I generally don't hang out with people that try to pressure me into stuff.