Drinking if fun. Lots of different drinks are just the thing for lots of people. With so many people enjoying it, responsibly, there must be something to it. If you only pick out the negative and dwell on it, how can you have a balanced opinion of something? You’re just saying something is bad because you were told so. Is that the best basis for an opinion?
I agree completely; if I cared more, I’d go through the thread and pull out all the quotes from the rabid drinkers. 
Nope, sorry, you’re wrong. People who don’t drink at all know more about the topic than you do. If you drink, you will fall all over yourself, and end up puking on your neighbor’s lawn. Fact. No getting around it.
Possibly not. But I suspect it depends on who you hang out with and what you consider “pushing.” When I was a very seldom drinker, I’d often get offered a drink. I still don’t drink beer, which is often what people have around their house. But I never experienced “pushy” - and when I choose not to drink now, I’ve never experienced pushy.
“Can I get you a drink - beer? coke? water?” - Not pushy at all, IMHO.
“Hey, why aren’t you drinking?”
“I don’t drink”
“Oh” - Not pushy, IMHO - although the original question could have been phrased less confrontationally.
And since I’m a good Minnesotan, I’m familiar with the ‘need to ask and refuse three times’ school of hospitality. So around here “Can I get you a glass of wine?” “No, thank you.” “Are you sure, I have both red and white.” “No, really, I’m fine.” “Well, I’m going to open a bottle, if you want a glass.” “That’s ok.” - That’s the height of polite conversation in some circles - because around here, accepting on the first offer is often seen as rude itself.
However, if people choose to call you a pussy for not drinking, or spike your coke without your permission, or ask intrusive questions about why you are refusing (and if you answer, argue with you about it) - that’s pushy.
Nah it’s only people who can’t drink that do that. Don’t worry there are enough drinkers that can have a really really good time, and we do, that a few folks who can’t manage a couple of pints with the lads or a toast or two over spirits without going all stupid will be missed. For those who don’t drink there are always social opportuinties for you as well. Designated driver. Pet sitter. Washroom attendant. All viable, under the circumstances, chances to join in and have some fun without ruining everyone’s evening with your… shall we call it an inability or disability?
Like good food, alcohol for the majority, upstanding and civil in they’re enjoyment of it, makes for the best of times shared with friends and loved ones.
As I said, maybe it has nothing at all to do with taste. 
Actually, alcohol is a vice that does have positive consequences beyond mere stress relief, which a lot of stuff can do. Current thinking is that moderate drinking lowers your risk of heart disease, diabetes, gallstones, strokes… Just going by personal armchair musing, I would think these are all related to the reduction of stress. Still, it’s positive enough that I wouldn’t mind enjoying alcohol enough to have a glass of wine or liquor every so often.
Compare to other vices like smoking that destroy your health from the very first cigarette. I’d love to see that crap stamped out forever, but alcohol has its place.
It may not. As I mentioned before, not since college (undergrad) have I encountered anyone in real life who was as obnoxious and pushy about drinking as some of the people in this thread. In grad school I regularly went out to bars with my classmates and no one seemed bothered if I just had a soda.
What pushiness I’ve encountered at parties as post-college adult has mostly been people who either couldn’t believe that I really didn’t drink or who wanted to be sure that I wasn’t just refusing out of politeness. These are the people who say things like “Hey, you want a beer? No, okay, we’ve got some wine too…oh, you don’t drink? Well, I could just pour you half a glass…not even a little? You sure?” It’s a little annoying to have to keep repeating the same refusal, but I’m sure most of these people are just trying to be good hosts. Some can take this too far – there have been two or three times when I’ve accepted and consumed half an inch of wine because I couldn’t see any way to get out of it short of screaming “I SAID I DIDN’T WANT ANY!” – but most people do eventually catch on and drop the subject.
This thread is evidence enough that there are indeed people with the attitude that anyone who doesn’t drink alcohol is cowardly, pathetic, ignorant, or just plain irrational, but in my experience it’s rare to encounter this after college age so you’re probably safe.
Certainly there are people in this thread with that attitude–but those people, as near as I can tell, are either total fuckwads, or choose to play total fuckwads on the Internet, which as near as I can tell is the same thing.
I enjoy alcohol; I deliberately chose to get over my dislike of it, and I’m very glad I did. If I offer someone something to drink and they refuse me, I’m not even the slightest eensiest bit offended. On the contrary, I’m just a little bit worried that they might be made uncomfortable by the offer.
Yes, but my point is that these people exist. I didn’t say everyone in this thread was like that. Most people, both on and off the Internet, who enjoy drinking can do so without making a big deal about it or being jerks to those who’d rather have a soft drink.
That’s the main point upon which I disagree with the OP – all drinkers aren’t pushy. Most drinkers aren’t pushy. But there is a minority of drinkers who apparently can’t deal with the fact that not everyone is like them. Early in the thread several posters were saying they’ve never met any pushy drinkers at all, but some of the later posts here should be proof enough that some drinkers are indeed pretty rude about other people’s beverage choices.
Is that so? Way to go, making up facts.
I haven’t gotten drunk or puked or fell down in, well almost forever. There IS such a thing as “drinking responsibly”, just like the Captain Morgan commercials say. The thing is, you can stop at one drink or two, and still be fully functional. THAT is a fact.
I highly doubt I’m the only who knows when to stop, and how to act.
Steve, I think the mean old lady whooshed you.
Lamia, I guess I’m trying to say that being a pushy drinker isn’t a function of being a drinker; it’s a function of being a pushy asshole. Those people who are assholes about other people drinking seem to be assholes about pretty much everything; any deviation from their own personality is deemed a flaw, and they revel in letting people know their idiot opinions. If the OP didn’t eat broccoli, they’d be assholes to him about that, too–but it’d be ridiculous to conclude that the problem was linked to their consumption of broccoli.
It wouldn’t be the first time, or the last time that happened
There is a lot of truth to this. From what I’ve seen right here on this board, there are a lot of people who harbor resetment and animosity towards anything that might be perceived as “cool”, “popular”, “attractive”, wealthy" or “successful”. Most likely because of negative experiences they may have had in their early years. At lets face it. These things are often associated with drinking.
Drinking is a social activity and to a certain extent it is also a right of passage growing up. So if you don’t partake in it, you often do find yourself excluded or you may choose to exclude yourself. So I don’t really know what’s worse. Having no one wanting to drink with you or not being interested in drinking and having that be the only thing everyone else wants to do.
When people drink together, they have a shared sense of community. It may be artifical and merely based on the effects of the alchohol. But it is there. So if you are hanging out at a party or bar where 90% of the people are there to drink, you are going to be out of synch with everyone. It’s like (or I suppose the exact opposite) of a guy who is loud and drunk in a quiet restaurant. People start to notice this one guys standing around not drinking, not talking to anyone and not having a good time.
Why would you assume that if someone doesn’t drink, they’re also not talking to anyone or having a good time? Why are the second two items so closely linked to the first in your mind?
It’s okay, Steve, I’ll still let you play in my sandbox. But you have to promise to bring Irish Whisky.
Serious answer from a guy who bounced at his fraternity’s parties for four years: unless you don’t appear to be having fun, it is relatively unlikely that anyone is going to try to get you a drink. At least in the crowds I ran with, which is what this is actually looking like it’s a function of.
Okay, so if someone looks like they’re not having fun, they’ll be asked if they want a drink, which is when it comes out that they don’t like alcohol. I can get that. But what msmith seems to be implying is that the person who’s not drinking is de facto not having fun, which isn’t quite the same thing.
Bingo. Apparently, if we aren’t part of the group activity, whether that means drinking or slapping our head on the ground regularly to some imaginary deity, then there is something wrong with us.
It is never good enough to say, “I don’t like the taste”, “I’ve had bad experiences in the past, so I don’t drink”, or “I don’t believe in your god”. No one part of the group believes that. Those of us who don’t drink are infidels and deserve our fate whether that is being ostracized or having our heads chopped off. IF only we’d try harder we could fit in. If only we believed then god will forgive us. If only we’d try this particular drink then we’d like it.
I . . . don’t think that’s exactly it.
Which two items? Talking to people and having a good time?
Like Zeriel, I was in a fraternity and I spend a lot of time socializing in NYC bars. Basically, when I see someone standing around, not drinking, not dancing, not interacting with people, it gives me the impression they are shy, bored or uncomfortable. Or if they aren’t, it’s pretty fucking weird to just enjoy quietly standing in a bar full of people unless a particular band is playing.
There’s been plenty of times I’ve gone out where I wasn’t drinking for one reason or another. I still have fun. I’m just as outgoing and funny sober as I am drunk. I probably even have better game. Although I generally like to carry a glass of water or something just so I have something to do with my hands.