That’s what I would do, and if they come back with “no, seriously, have a little drink”, tell them “No, seriously, fuck off”
I wanna know who the OP hangs out with.
Yeah, there is usually ONE in every crowd. But he makes it sound like its the vast majority. Is he hanging out mainly with a herd of 20 something alcoholics/idiots ?
This is a quite obvious dodge, so I’ll repeat the question in a more respectful way:
Why do you have an issue with alcohol? Who do you know who has a drinking problem?
And then puke on their shoes 
First, its not a dodge. I wonder about things like that. All the time
And second, I don’t know anyone with a drinking problem. At all, none. Parents don’t drink, siblings don’t, and friends are not alcoholics. I’m fine with them drinking except when they’re trying to get me to drink.
If I had to give this question some thought, I think its simply that drinking is just so…normal. Nobody thinks there’s a problem with it. Why should they, they’d ask? It’s manageable. Yeah, sorta like shooting a little heroin is manageable. It bugs me that drinking and smoking, if invented right now, would be banned but they are grandfathered in because of useless tradition.
Oh, so now you’re gonna get all preachy towards the casual heroin users?
Now you go too far.
I can respect your preferring to not drink. But, whether I take a sip occasionally is none of your business either. Here’s a little clue. I’m one of those guys who is in control. I have a shot of brandy or scotch or a beer occasionally. I like it. I can stop at one and usually I do. Sometimes I will “go crazy” and have a second one. Then I’m done. I don’t need to get smashed, I appreciate the taste.
Now it looks like you do have a problem. Your problem is, you presume to know what’s best for the rest of us. Like hell you do.
So fuckin what, man? Even if you’re right, this is just one of the dumbshit asshole theories that everyone has that don’t make any difference in the world.
Here’s the deal. Alcohol, for a lot of people, results in pleasant sensations: relaxation, reduced inhibitions, mild euphoria. Like every other chemical in the cosmos, in certain quantities it is poisonous to humans; like many other chemicals, in other, smaller quantities, it is harmless.
Let’s say you’re right, that alcohol would be banned if it were invented right now (instead of arguably being the cause of civilization). So what? All that shows is that we live in a society paranoid about drugs to the extent that we’d ban something that gives so many people such pleasure.
FWIW, I used to hate the taste of alcohol, just like I used to not like jazz. All booze tasted the same, all jazz sounded the same. Once I learned to get past my first impression of both, though, I discovered a world of subtle pleasures in each. (Well, except for jazz–I still don’t know anything about it). From the floral bouquet of a local IPA that perfectly complements a peppercorn-crust pizza, to the caramel-sundae-essence of a glass of Woodford Reserve bourbon, to the jammy lusciousness of a really fine glass of red wine that sets off the woodsy musk of a mushroom pate, there are plenty of incredible flavors in alcoholic drinks that you can’t find anywhere else. The fact that I get a pleasant buzz is just bonus.
You don’t have to like it. I think anime, by and large, sucks ass, and I’ve been irritated every time (with the exception of Mononoke) that anyone’s tried to convince me otherwise. But I don’t go around spouting off my insane asshole theories about it.
YogSosoth, here is some advice that you don’t want and won’t listen to.
It’s not them, it’s you. It isn’t the booze, it’s something else. You frame your objections in just such a way that it’s clear that people drinking pings a certain fear or insecurity or whatever. If it was my job to make guesses about people’s psychological profiles over the internet, I’d say it’s social anxiety and a need to be guarded all the time, but that’s not my job.
The problem is, you’re pretty much guaranteed to always feel terrible about this, because as so many other people have pointed out, your perspective is unfair and presumptuous of the motives of the people who are drinking, which means they’re always going to respond to you as if you’re attacking them, which means that you’re always going to be in a position to defend your perspective, which is not a position you want to be in because it won’t end well for you. It’ll always be awkward and you’ll always say things like
…which combines a logical non sequitur with the kind of sanctimony that is always going to invite exactly the kind of inquiry that you obviously are uncomfortable with. Won’t end well. That’s the thing about being super-defensive; you’ll always be right because people will always be defending themselves from your perceived attacks on them.
If you really and truly didn’t like the taste of alcohol and that was it, I don’t think you’d feel the same kind of pressure to justify yourself and I don’t think you’d perceive the same degree of pushiness coming from your friends (who you say yourself are good folks otherwise). I would hazard a guess that it’s more likely that you are especially sensitive and a bit irrational about this particular subject than that your friends are unanimously assholes about it. As far as they know, they’re doing you a favor; on this particular subject they’re in a better position to tell you what’s what than the other way around.
So here’s the advice you didn’t ask for and don’t want: figure out what you’re really so uncomfortable with – specifically. Figure out why, and then decide what you do and don’t like and what you are sickened by. Until then, try not to let your unease bubble over into anger, because even if you really think for a second that it’s about the taste, and even though people will always be ready to make an argument over taste, it ain’t about the taste.
I do drink and I’ve known alcoholics, and alcohol is a truly revolting drug when abused. DTs can kill you. Heroin withdrawal just makes you wish you were dead. If the drinker is taking care of life, though, and not having 12 beers every night–can I have one too?
1 oz. melon liqueur
1 oz sweet & sour mix
Shake with ice
Strain into a woman standing on her head.
Trust me, you’ll love it.
Alcoholism is terrible. Fortunately, it’s suffered by a nearly vanishingly tiny minority of people who drink alcohol.
Dear OP, why do you hate fun? 
Actually, I believe it’s THE pussy drink. Well, it at least shares the ‘honor’ with Sombreros.
Me too! It’s nice to meet people with common interests. 
Have you ever stopped to think that maybe there’s a reason for this?
I’m curious about this whole cold sweats from a vodka and coke and “not knowing my tolerance” business. Unless you weigh about 30 lbs, you’re not gonna get fucked up on one drink. And as for tolerance, go home, drink till you feel drunk, that’s your tolerance.
I have to agree with the rest who think OP is probably just a dull companion and sanctimonius about it.
Now I want to drink (more). Thanks, OP, you’ve made me an alcoholic.
(also, OP does seem like a giant pussy wrt the booze)
Wasn’t there an old WC Fields quip about that?
Ah yes, she drove me to drink for which I am eternally grateful
Like I said earlier, I haven’t drank in over 10 years now - I am a complete lightweight with regards to alcohol tolerance now. I’ll sip my husband’s beer occasionally (because I still like booze), and I get tipsy on about a quarter of a regular can of beer. I also stopped drinking because I was getting hangovers on two beers the night before, so my body might just be reacting to alcohol differently than other people’s.
Personally, I find I have a low tollerance for just about everything. Psychosymatic or not, I feel my head getting fuzzy from a couple of aspirin, and I really don’t like the feeling.
I agree with what a lot of people have said. I don’t drink at all, and pretty much everyone I’ve run with has (after a few times saying so) dealt with it just fine. Didn’t make me a social pariah, and no one tried to push booze on me once I told them I don’t drink.
Thing is, I never made a big deal about it, nor did I offer anything in way of “explaination”. I don’t drink. That’s it. Anything more is really none of their concern, and they’ve been happy to leave it at that and get on with the pool game/star trek marathon/guitar hero playoff.
It seems to me that the explainations you’re offering are a big part of the reason people keep pushing the stuff on you. Just leave it at “I don’t drink” and they won’t have any openings to try to change your mind on the subject.
I don’t know either. It was diet soda, for whatever that’s worth, and I tried it twice with the same results both times. Always meant to try a screwdriver instead to see if it went down any easier, but I never bothered.
Thank you, Einstein. I could never have figured it out without your brilliance shining 'pon this thread.
I’m also a non-drinker and have definitely encountered pushy drinkers. This was mostly when I was in college, though. Thinking back, the people who were the worst about it were people who seemed to be drinking way too much themselves. Those with more moderate drinking habits usually didn’t care what I was drinking. I would speculate that many people who drink heavily have convinced themselves that their drinking habits are normal, and this self-image is threatened when they look around at a party and realize that there are people who are drinking little or not at all. I knew one girl who was a very heavy drinker and would actually start screaming at people at parties if they weren’t drinking as much as she thought they should.
Since my college days it’s been pretty rare for someone to give me a hard time about not drinking. In grad school I’d go to bars after class with friends and just have a ginger ale and I don’t remember anyone being bothered by this. People are often surprised or curious about the fact that I am a non-drinker, though. There are people who, after seeing me refuse alcohol on multiple occasions, will say “Wait, you really don’t drink at ALL?” I’m not sure what else they thought I meant all those times they heard me say “I don’t drink” – maybe it’s just too weird to believe without further evidence? I’ve also sometimes had a bit of difficulty convincing people that “No thank you, I don’t drink” doesn’t mean “Just a little, I don’t drink much”, but I think people are usually just trying to be generous.
Aside from a guy giving out samples in an upscale grocery store, I can’t say I’ve ever had anyone pull the “Oh, but I’m sure you’ll like THIS drink!” thing with me. Then again, I don’t say that my reason for not drinking is that I don’t like the taste. I guess I can see how some people might take that to mean that you’d be open to drinking if you were given some drink with a different flavor. I think it’s better not to offer a reason. If “I don’t drink” isn’t good enough for someone, it’s unlikely that any explanation would be. When people have asked just out of curiosity, I usually say “I have a lot of reasons, but by now the main one is that I just never started. I don’t see any point in taking it up at my age.”
Dude? Dude. Seriously?