# Fo non-alcoholics, how would you react to not being able to drink again? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019 "2010-04-14T02:38:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/41 "2010-04-14T11:51:23Z")
Assuming the reason for abstaining from alcohol is not inherently and source of conflict, I couldn’t care less. I drink infrequently. I love a cold glass of sangria in the summer and champagne for celebrations, but I’m also really happy with a cold iced tea. So no biggie. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/42 "2010-04-14T12:20:15Z")
In my college years and immediately after, it would have bothered me a lot. Marriage and fatherhood turned off the drinking habit, however. Diabetes and a gastric bypass have pretty much put a medically dictated end to drinking. When the docs said “No more booze”, I said “Meh.” ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/43 "2010-04-14T12:53:41Z")
I’d be pretty upset. Beer and wine is a big part of our lives - a great meal is complemented by a great wine or beer, and I’d really miss that part of things. We also belong to a group of friends who get together a few times a week and taste wines, and I’d miss being able to do that because they’re a great group of people and it’s fun. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/44 "2010-04-14T12:54:28Z")
I’d be unhappy about it, but get over it soon. I drink one glass of wine almost every night at dinner, as does my husband. Sometimes he has two, and I start feeling irritated, thinking, “Now we’re going to run out before the end of the week and we’ll have to go without!” Then I feel silly, because it really isn’t that important. And I know that if I lived alone, I’d never drink anything at all. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/45 "2010-04-14T12:58:57Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Not an alcoholic - > > I don’t drink much because alcohol is a migraine trigger for me. And it’s fattening. If I’m going to blow my calories, I’d rather have ice cream. In short, I couldn’t care less. I’d give up alcohol long before giving up chocolate, fried chicken, or World of Warcraft. This was going to me my response to the letter, until you got to the fried chicken and WoW. Substitute cheese and fresh bread, and you have me. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/46 "2010-04-14T13:06:52Z")
I enjoy red wines, single malt scotch, and a variety of ciders. I never drunk heavily, but sociably when the occasion arose. But because I have Hepatitis B, I have basically stopped. I cannot justify accepting state supplied drugs at ~USD500 per month to prevent liver damage and then drinking. And I really miss sharing a bottle of wine with a meal, or a cider at the pub during open mic night. However, you learn to do without. Si ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/47 "2010-04-14T13:07:51Z")
I’d be very unhappy. A bottle of wine adds so much to a good dinner. And I like beer, especially some of the neat craft beers. Oh, and vodka. Nothing like a coupla slugs straight from the freezer. Decriminalize cannabis, though, and I’d be content with saying goodbye to alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/48 "2010-04-14T13:09:29Z")
Happened to me actually. Was a one beer in the evening guy, a few more on summer days at camp. Blood test at my physical and doctor said no more drinking. Thought it’d bother me more than it has. The adjustments have been more in habit - spent a couple months getting used to not opening a beer in the evening. And going out to dinner or with friends I needed to find non-alcoholic drinks I could enjoy over an evening. Other than occasionally after working outside on a hot day I don’t really miss it. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/49 "2010-04-14T13:14:23Z")
I’d be slightly bummed out but probably wouldn’t think about it too much after that. I rarely drink anyway. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/50 "2010-04-14T13:16:30Z")
Oh Jesus Christ, don’t make me imagine such a horrible thing. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/51 "2010-04-14T13:21:37Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Oh Jesus Christ, don’t make me imagine such a horrible thing. I think I love you. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/52 "2010-04-14T13:26:20Z")
I’d be well pissed off, and probably start chain smoking and gorging on chocolate in compensation. I don’t normally have a sweet tooth at all, but every January I give up booze and coffee for a month and find myself pining for sweet foods. Weird. I have a drink probably 5 days out of 7, mostly a glass of wine with dinner or a G&T when I get home from work. Apart from that, I drink coffee in the morning but otherwise purely still water (I don’t like fizzy drinks). As such, I would really miss it and would find liquid really boring. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/53 "2010-04-14T13:28:03Z")
I wouldn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/54 "2010-04-14T13:35:41Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > If you had never had a problem drinking and for some outside reason, you had to stop, how would you react? Doesn’t matter what the reason is–let’s say it’s not a spouse or loved one asking you because in that case the reaction could be, “I’d be angry that someone was manipulating me unreasonably.” How would you feel? Would it be painful? A little annoying? There’s a part of me that’s two years old and hates being told what to do. That part would be very annoyed (even if the reason is “you have a medical condition. a drink will kill you.”) The actual not drinking part, I probably wouldn’t mind very much at all. I like a glass of wine here or there or a drink when I’m out, but it’s not that important. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/55 "2010-04-14T13:56:38Z")
I probably wouldn’t notice. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/56 "2010-04-14T14:08:46Z")
I would still want some occasionally, but I could do just a well without it. As for something like Prohibition we all know how that worked out. I would would have supported the people that still drank in that situation. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/57 "2010-04-14T14:14:18Z")
I _like_ the taste of beer, so I think I would spend all my spare time inventing a non-alcoholic beer that didn’t taste like stale Bud after it’s gone through a horse. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/58 "2010-04-14T14:17:46Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Oh Jesus Christ, don’t make me imagine such a horrible thing. > [@jjimm](#): > > I think I love you. Get in line, **jjimm** 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/59 "2010-04-14T14:18:46Z")
Just wanted to say, the decision to stop drinking - for whatever reasons - creates certain associations in your head as well as in the heads of others who know you. A lot of people - friends, sisters, BILs, etc - were surprised when I quit, saying they did not think I had “a problem.” -I readily admit that at one point in my life I drank WAY too much. -I am equally sure that when I quit quitting was the right thing for me - for countless reasons. -And I readily admit that very few people - if anyone - completely stops drinking because they are certain they _never_ had a problem with it. But now, after I have ghone without a drink for 6 years, there now seems to be a widely held belief that at the time I stopped drinking my drinking was “out of control”, and that should I choose to begin drinking again, it is inevitable that I would revert to my heaviest drinking days. I actually hung onto the calendar I kept for 1 of the 2 years immediately before I quit when I was trying to moderate. \*(Just found the one calendar easily. The other one is probably around somewhere. Didn’t cherrypick the lighter year.)\*During that year, there were a total of 10 days on which I drank more than my allotted 4 beers, and I never had more than 6. Most - if not all - of those seemed to have occurred on holidays, vacations, etc. Less than 5 weeks out of the year that I exceeded my 14 drink allotment - I think the highest was 20 over x-mas/NY. At that time in my life, with a recent history of heavy drinking, with no hstory of extended sobriety, and with 3 teens/pre-teens to set an example for, I can easily see that putting down a 6-er at one sitting was not desireable. What I find curious - and a little bothersome - is that a large number of people (including my wife) seem to feel that the 2 years of moderation, 6 years of sobriety, and ay number of other changes in my life and the lives of everyone else, means that now 1, 3, or even 6 beers is some horrible thing. Yeah, maybe it isn’t the _best_ thing for any number of reasons. But when I look at everything else I do, I think if that is the worst of it I’m doing all right. I feel as tho I can keep dry with no big difficulty (tho I still occasionally yearn for a smoke after 25 years without!;)) But if I would occasionally like a drink, I’m not certain that it shouldn’t at least be a matter of legitimate consideration - instead of my wife’s immediate reaction “I’d divorce you.” Sorry if I brought that thread over here. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019/60 "2010-04-14T14:23:30Z")
It’s funny how these threads always bring out the “oh, I don’t even like drinking all that much” people. I’d be _furious_. I’d hunt down the people responsible and kill them with fire, were there people responsible. Seriously, y’all. I love wine, I like a beer now and then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fo-non-alcoholics-how-would-you-react-to-not-being-able-to-drink-again/536019.md?page=4)