Hmm, I’ve been in AA and never heard tha one. Is it because of Bill W’s story in the AA book where he fell off the wagon by convincing himself that if whiskey were in milk, it would be OK?
Why do I have the strangest feeling that I’m being whooshed?
What I usually have at home when I want something cold without alcohol is either club soda or tonic water, preferably diet, over lots of ice with a liberal squirt of lemon or lime juice.
I’ll be the fourth (I think) person here to say that I will shamelessly order a Shirley Temple each and every time. What’s especially great is that in two of the last three bars I’ve been to (granted, this is over a period of about three years), the bartender has automatically assumed that I am the designated driver, and I’ve wound up with free Shirley Temples all night.
There is absolutely no downside to this.
By the way, I’ve also heard the argument that a geniune Shirley Temple uses ginger ale, but I personally hate the taste of ginger ale and find that variety to be fairly foul. Grenadine and Sprite/7up/Sierra Mist are all fine by me.
If I’m feeling particularly manly, I might even order a Roy Rogers. 
Minor pet peeve of mine. What does designated driver mean? I’ve always taken it to mean that you will be sober and driving everyone else at night’s end. Yet, if I am in a bar at 7:30 pm to see a band that starts at 8:30 and plays till 11, and I tell them I am designated driver, they say I get free drinks. So I order a double Chivas straight up. And I get charged. Does designated driver mean that you have never had a drink? If I have a drink or two early in the evening, I’ll be fine to drive at midnight. :mad:
I don’t really drink, so I’m not the best authority, but I’ll take a shot at it.
-
Non-alcoholic drinks presumably cost the bar a lot less, whether you’re a designated driver or not. They should have been explicit in stating to you that only non-alcoholic drinks would be given for free, I suppose. But it makes sense to me that they would charge anyone for alcohol, since that is, in essence, how the bar makes money.
-
I don’t disagree with your definition of designated driver. However, for every honest person like you who wants to enjoy one drink and then drive home sober hours later, how many folks do you think there might be who would state they were a designated driver, enjoy a free drink, then leave for another bar to pull the same stunt? I don’t see how any bar could be expected to police that sort of thing – what incentive does the bar have to take a chance on you if you’re drinking any alcohol at all?
If you want to drink alcohol at the beginning of the night, buy it. If you want to drink soda the rest of the night, you get that free because you’re driving. There’s no reason the bar should comp your alcoholic beverages if you’re the designated driver; what if you get a little buzz going and change your mind? Not saying that you would, but how would the barkeep know?
Asimovian has an excellent point WRT that too.
Yes, I agree with both Asimovian and fetus. It is just a tiny pet-peeve. Bars brag that “designated drivers drink free” when really they should be saying “No charge for soda”. I owe you both a drink. Belly up. 
Well, Johanna, it sounds like you’re looking for a good substitute for sparkling mineral water when the bar doesn’t have it. I’d go with the club soda and lime combo myself. That’s what I drink if I’m out for a long period and want to pace myself between whiskeys. It quenches my thirst and it’s not sweet (which, to me, would make a nasty contrast with whiskey). I’d never heard of it as a recovering alcoholic’s drink of choice, though.