teetotal Discussion thread

[Richard A Thackeray]

I experimented when a teenager, but stopped when I passed my driving test (31st March 1983)

It saved money, for petrol, & removed the temptation of 'One For The Road'

 

[Andy in Germany]

I’ve been toying with the idea of stopping alcohol consumption.
The hangovers just make me feel depressed & I lose all productivity.
Over December it’s just constantly filled with social engagements & parties etc.
The thing is how does one turn up to a house party & just sit there sober as others become louder & louder & silly then more silly?
I can’t see how non drinkers can mix with drunks. Is the answer to just stay away??
Discuss.

I grew up in a teetotal household because my dad was a pastor and dealt with alcoholics a lot, so he preferred not to touch the stuff. Ironically I now work with alcoholics in a rehab centre, which is enough to put anyone off drinking. For obvious reasons being teetotal is accepted among work colleagues, in fact there's a strict 24h ban on drinking before a shift, because an alcoholic can smell alcohol anywhere.

If I'm not with them, saying "I'm driving" (a bicycle) usually stops any comments. I've never found Germans getting pushy. I always say a bike has an in built alcohol test.

I never worried too much about not being invited to parties because I'm an introvert anyway, and I figure I'm capable of making a fool of myself in a group without any help thank you. In fact I took the attitude that if people made drinking a condition of an invitation then the friendship wasn't worth much.

And think of the money I've saved over the years and was able to spend on bicycles and model making...

Not as dull as lots of people going on about how wonderful not drinking is.

It's like the old vegan joke: How can tell if someone doesn't drink very much. Don't worry, they'll tell you.

We figure you were drunk last time we told you; so you probably don't remember.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I knew you’d be shocked....

 

[Smokin Joe]

One of the things that annoy me is the "Surely you'll have just one? Go on, it won't kill you".

Can you imagine if you tried offering a cigarette to a non smoker with that line?

 

[Bobby Maclean]

Spent the last 30 years popping into the pub, on the way home after work for a quick one. Fridays a few more.

January this year I decided to do a dry month. After that I thought let’s try another month and so it’s been till now.

This year I have discovered lots of distractions. It started with restoring mechanical watches, best found at an early morning car boot fair, a place I’d never normally feel alive enough on a Sunday to visit.
Those fairs threw up a new passion...restoring vintage bikes. I can’t walk past one without asking “how much?”
I’ve got 5 on the go now.

My drinking buddies are all still sitting in the pub each night. Once or twice a week I pop in for an hour and catch up and have a great time chatting, but not letting the place have a hold on me.

Spend to much time on cycling and watch forums for that.

 

[slowmotion]

I was lead astray by a group of cyclists.

Now I can't even contemplate a FNRttC without the prospect of yellow beer at breakfast time.

 

[Vantage]

I used to over do it when in my late teens - early twenties with my so called friends. Spent many a night blasting round Bolton in my mates Escort while all of us were drunk as skunks. It's a miracle we didn't kill anyone.
I've never really been a 'drinker' as such and so whilst the other people at the pub/party etc were knocking back pint after pint, I was pi55ed as a parrot by my 5th Guinness.
Made a right arse of myself at my grandads funeral. As if my granny wasn't in enough pain
I still have the odd pint when my dad offers when I visit and had a few when Pam and I last went camping (it's the rules) but there's been 5 Guinness's in the fridge since last summer. Might open one for Christmas.
I don't remember ever having a hangover though...its never affected me that way

 

[MichaelW2]

I am a really lightweight drinker and csn easily stop after one glass. I am dreading the thought of a trip to meet my wife's family in a country where alcohol is what they do.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I am a really lightweight drinker and csn easily stop after one glass. I am dreading the thought of a trip to meet my wife's family in a country where alcohol is what they do.

If it helps, I had the same problem when visiting family in Japan for the first time. Japanese can really throw it back: being drunk even at work parties isn't just normal, it's expected.

Just agree with your wife on what you want to do and then -politely-present a united front regardless.

It is also a good lithmus tzest: if you stand up on this you'll ger more respect later and less trouble in potential future conflicts (and inlaws do like to get involved sometimes...)

There is a photo of me toasting my Japanese family at the wedding, with a glass of orange juice...

That said, opposite me was my wife's Godmother who is one of the main anti-nuclear campaigners in Japan, so I had her support for being different anyway.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I am a really lightweight drinker and csn easily stop after one glass. I am dreading the thought of a trip to meet my wife's family in a country where alcohol is what they do.

Would you like me to go for you?

 

[swee'pea99]

A cup of decaff tea is my evening treat now.

Steady tiger...

 

[Smokin Joe]

Not as dull as lots of people going on about how wonderful not drinking is.

It's like the old vegan joke: How can tell if someone doesn't drink very much. Don't worry, they'll tell you.

The thread title tells you what the subject is, it isn't part of an unrelated thread that has been hijacked by non drinkers. If you're bored reading it then you must have opened it because you wanted to be bored.

 

[Saluki]

I went to the works Christmas party and didn't drink. My colleagues all think that I am odd anyway but I don't care.
I ignored the pressure for wine, beer, doing shots, spirits etc. I just said no thank you, repeatedly. I got a bit narked with one person but he was trying to bully me into having a drink.

if someone doesn't want a drink, for whatever reason, that's all fine and dandy. Be yourself and sod what people think.

 

[JhnBssll]

One of the things that annoy me is the "Surely you'll have just one? Go on, it won't kill you".

Can you imagine if you tried offering a cigarette to a non smoker with that line?

This is one of my favourites too, largely because I've been told by a multitude of senior consultants and surgeons that actually it genuinely might kill me

I've been teetotal since 5th July 2016, not that I'm counting I never really struggled with it and still meet my chums at the local on a Friday and Sunday evening but must admit I don't spend long there anymore. There are certainly events that I don't enjoy anymore but I tend to just avoid them now.

I admire anyone that chooses to stop on their own; my hand was forced by illness and I can see I'm far better off for it but I'm convinced I'd still be drinking if that were not the case.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I got a bit narked with one person but he was trying to bully me into having a drink.

This annoys me too: if I don't want a drink, I don't want a drink: it's none of your business why either. You can imagine how hard this is for my 'clean' clients: you rebuild your life, build a whole new social group, sometimes change city so you won't slip back into the old ways, and some prat starts playing 'Mr. Life and soul of the party' and singles you out. It must be immensely annoying.

I have great respect for 'my' reformed alcoholics, especially in their patience with people around them.