I just killed an entire bottle of Smirnoff Vanilla Twist. Within two days.
I respect your decision not to drink. Like the man said, more for us. And I’m glad you’re not getting all sanctimonius on us drinkers.
Hey, I love non-drinkers. Someone has to drive us home.
I don’t drink either. I never have. Also for reasons of my own that don’t need extrapolation. What I really hate is when you tell people that you don’t drink, and the first response is “Why?”. My standard answer is “I just don’t” usually people realise what a dumb question it was at that point. If they press it, I say “What if I told you that my father was an alcoholic and my mother was killed by a drunk driver? It’s a really dumb question to ask. That’s not the case with me, but how would you be feeling now if it was?” They usually shut up and shuffle off to another part of the room pretty quick.
The worst situation for me was when some of my good friends, who know I never drink, tried to spike my soft drink with vodka. First sip and I knew what had happened. I was mighty unimpressed.
Another non-drinker here.
I used to have a couple of beer when Mr zoogirl’s band was on (and I do mean a COUPLE, three was unusual). I always felt uncomfortable, physically, if I drank. I had to run to the bathroom constantly and I got a headache very easily. Also, I’d get quiet and I was even known to fall asleep with the music blaring. It wasn’t really fun.
My parents were both alcoholics so it’s a wonder I never had a problem. Anyway, a few months after Mom passed away, I had a glass of wine out of a bottle she’d left and that was it. No big fanfare, no particular reason, just never had another one.
Now, I’m not shy. In fact, I’ll get up cold sober and sing Karoke, dance and crack jokes all night. I was on the Drama Team at church and acting in front of a couple hundred people is a treat as far as I’m concerned. I LOVE doing tours at the zoo. I just do it better when I’m sober. Plus, I don’t like the taste of most alcohol.
My friends no longer even think about it. If a new aquaintance asks, I just tell 'em I can either party, sober, or sit in a corner drunk and glare at people all night. They usually get the idea. I suspect some people think it’s a Church thing, but it really isn’t. Mine doesn’t have a particular stance on drinking at all. After all, “water into wine” and all that.
Mr zoogirl has almost stopped lately too. He only drinks at big parties, maybe every five-six months. He gets three day hangovers from a one night drunk and he says it’s not worth it.
I’ve also noted that the harassment (probably too strong a word) declines with age. With the folks I hang around with now, most of them don’t even notice that I don’t drink. It used to be if I refused alchohol, at least one person would always ask why.
Since y’all didn’t ask, I’ll tell ya: same reason as LifeOnWry – I can’t stand the taste. I usually describe it as battery acid, and no, it doesn’t matter what kind of alchohol it is – I can detect relatively minute amounts in a fruity mixed drink. In my youth, folks used to say something to the effect of “yeah, it tastes bad, but intoxication is worth it,” which leads me to believe that they’re not tasting what I’m tasting.
I’ve never been drunk in my life; I don’t believe that I could possibly force myself to drink enough to achieve it. Is this common among those of you who don’t drink for non-alchoholism reasons, or am I just strange*?
I don’t like the taste either. My family and medical histories are enough to make me want to be careful to only drink in moderation, but the taste makes me want to never drink at all. I don’t think intoxication could possibly be worth it. I’d have to be drunk already to enjoy the taste!
I know I can learn to like some bad tasting foods and beverages, because I have done this with nasty-but-healthy things like spinach and cranberry juice. But when the benefit doesn’t seem that great, why bother? That’s probably why I don’t drink coffee either. (I must be one of the only non-Mormons around who doesn’t touch coffee or alcohol!) If I really need a liquid stimulant, I go for black tea. Oddly enough, despite coffee’s popularity no one has ever given me a hard time about not drinking it.
Lamia - you may find this amusing… as a fellow non-drinker, I read your last post above and my gut reaction was, “no COFFEE?? THAT is weird…” And that’s the first time I’ve ever had any insight at all about the people who question me about not drinking!
Y’all are right - the older I get, the less “hassle” I get about it. Part of that though is that my group of friends has been fairly stable over the last five years or so, and the novelty of my habits has worn off. But most people still question it a few times when they first meet me.
What can I say, I’m a freak. 
I do vastly prefer the taste of coffee to the taste alcohol, but not enough to drink it. I think some coffee-flavored foods are okay, and the smell is pleasant, but I’ve only had real coffee twice. There was the first time I ever tried it, when I discovered I didn’t care for it, and a second time recently when I was visiting a sweet elderly lady who made me some in the mistaken belief that all Americans love coffee. I managed to drink most of the cup out of courtesy.
I never could have done that with alcohol, though. The most I’ve ever been able to get down for the sake of politeness was a couple of sips of wine – “a Communion’s worth”, as I call it.
No coffee???
OK, I’m also relating a bit better now as well
I wasn’t always a complete non-drinker. I was partial to the occaisional Corona with lime, but it became so infrequent I just cut it out all together. I’ve never missed it.
But no coffee…
shudder
I tell people that I don’t drink ‘for medical reasons other than addiction’. Alcohol is a no-no with the diabetic medications I take, so I’m not lying. So far, no one’s been an assh*le about it.
I’m not a true tee-totaler, because I will do communion in church, and if I drink heavily, I have 3 beers a year. I used to love tying on a good one, too, so I do miss it sometimes.
I’m not much of a drinker. Wow, what kind of 18 (and soon to be 19) year old am I?? I just don’t like the taste of most non-beer/lagers. It tastes all right on the way down, but then I get the horrible aftertaste… I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s like morning breath, but a different ‘colour’.
…I do however like Sambuca and Coke. It’s like drinking an aniseed ball. Yum…
Now that I think about it, I sometimes get a revolting taste in my mouth with coffee. God only knows what my breath smells like when happens. 
I’m going to find some small furry animals and breathe on them, just to see what happens.
It must be the same people who find it hilarious to offer meat to vegetarians.
See, if you have preferences that differ from the norm, it’s (a) an invitation for others to offer their opinion on you, your choices and your life, (b) mockworthy, and © clearly attention-seeking behaviour on your part.
:rolleyes:
I’m in the “stopped drinking due to the massive hangovers” camp. I like the taste of booze, and crave a cold beer on a hot day, but when I started getting hangovers from two beers, I pretty much gave it up as not worth it. I also don’t drink any caffeinated beverages (including cola), but I like the taste of all of them as well. My system just doesn’t tolerate alcohol or caffeine.
Not a drinker, either. Hate the taste.
Won’t drink coffee. Hate the taste.
I’ve never cared about not drinking alcohol, but I would love to have a taste for coffee. I think it smells divine.
I didn’t start drinking coffee until I was a harried young mother of three going through college cramming for exams, i.e out of desperation.
I can stop any time though.
Really.
Just don’t ever try to take my Pepsi.
When I was little, I hated lima beans, but one day it was suddenly like “POOF!” my tastebuds had done a complete change, and suddenly I LIKED lima beans. I’ve tried alcohol, and absolutely hated the taste, and every now and then, I try something different, but nope, it’s just not there. I’ve tried different wines, thinking that I LOVE grape juice, and wine is made from grapes, but somehow it doesn’t work.
Besides the taste, if I drink (and I’ve actually been officially drunk once) one of two things happen–first my knees feel all funny (this is after about three sips of wine) and I feel sleepy. If I keep drinking (as has happened one time before), I get nasty, the kind of “Throw the TV through the window and beat up the spouse” Nasty. (although I didn’t really, but certainly felt like it for no good reason other than four wine coolers.)
Ergo, I don’t drink. I stick with Coke or water.
I don’t drink alcohol either. Not because it tastes bad, and not because I’m an alcoholic - I’ve never even been drunk. I have personal reasons not to drink, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with drinking.
My first roommate in college loved to try and get me to drink. I felt kind of bad for always saying no, because drinking is a bigger part of being social in college and he probably just wanted to help me join in.
But I do find it annoying when other people try and get me to drink. They always act like drinking makes them more mature or something, and treat me like a little kid. One time I did cave in and drink a small amount, and they all pretended it was a big deal. Now it is easier to just keep saying no politely.
I only drink coffee about 10 times a year, when I really need to stay awake for something important. The taste is OK, but my reasoning is that if I only drink it rarely, it will be more effective when I need it.
I don’t drink soda at all. Maybe because I did a science fair project in elementary school on soda rotting your teeth, and every time I imagine drinking it I picture horrible rotten teeth in a jar.
Not to be one of those people that runs around trying to get everyone to drink, but it has been my experience that different types of alcohol affect you differently. I can’t drink wine at all because of the heavy-legs thing, beer is a little better but it still gets me feeling pretty weird pretty fast, but Bailey’s Irish Cream doesn’t seem to affect me that way at all. I can have the occasional Bailey’s and hot chocolate and not get tipsy, heavy legged, sleepy, or nasty drunk from it if I drink it slowly enough. Just FYI.
I’m not partial to most alcoholic beverages. I don’t get “drunk” so much as act 100% normal (for me) until given the opportunity to pass out. I refuse pretty much anything unless it is fruity and doesn’t give off noxious fumes (oddly enough, this also applies to people).
My best friend feels that the whole point of alcohol is to get drunk. Something about “inhibitions” and “fun”. I don’t see why you can’t be that way without. I know I’m quite loony without any outside help. I asked for the logic behind this, and he said: “Because all alcohol tastes bad, and it’s flammable. There’s no other point to drinking it.”
I love alcohol… beer, hard liquor, creamy drinks, wine… you name it. I drink in moderation and I never get flaming drunk anymore. (Not since college).
We have two people in our group of friends who don’t drink. One had some problems with alcohol in the past (using it to forget his troubles) and doesn’t touch the stuff now. One never liked the taste, but is trying new things now. He’ll never be a heavy drinker, but he’ll taste someone’s ‘girly’ drink now and then. He once drank a whole kiwi lime malt liquor 26 oz.
I offer drinks to guy number 2, as sometimes he will partake. We also always are sure to have plenty of soda around for both of these friends. “Hi! Coke’s in the fridge” to non drinkers. “Hi! Beer’s in the fridge” to drinkers.
What’s so hard about that?
If someone says “I’m not drinking” I say Okay, would you like something else?
I never pressure someone into drinking, but I always ask my friends twice, in case they were refusing to be polite. It usually goes this:
me: “Would you like a beer?”
friend: “Naw”
me: “You sure? I don’t mind at all”
friend: “Well, since you offered twice I’ll take one”
I only ask acquaintances once. I do enjoy the fact that alcohol “loosens” some people up. But it also makes some people crazy, and mean…which I do not like. I’m a mellow drinker, which is to say when I get drunk, everything is peachy and mellow. I never drank until I got to college, not because the opportunity never came up, but because I was afraid of its effects. I’d never been drunk before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was also insecure in high school, and I didn’t want anyone to see me drunk for the first time. So I took it upon myself to get tanked in private with the help of Bacardi 181 and some Tom Collins mix. What a trip that was! Once I realized the effects of alcohol, I no longer had any reservations about drinking in public. Unfortunately, everybody knows when you’re a beginner because you don’t “know your limits” and end up camping out by the porcelain pony.
Anyways, back to my point. Lamia, would you like a beer?