little chickadee Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I've noticed that a few people on here don't drink, or hardly drink alcohol. I don't drink, because I've been told that it reacts badly with M.E and my hubby doesn't drink either (although he used to drink quite a lot) Since we stopped drinking, we have noticed that a lot of people are uncomfortable around us in a drinking situation. Who else doesn't drink, and have you experienced this uncomfortableness either as a non-drinker, or as someone drinking around a non-drinker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I dont drink much and find that people always assume that I'll drink wine to relax. Cant stand the stuff. There was an interesting debate about it recently. i think it was on the wright stuff about how nondrinkers are almost picked on for not drinking and their motives are questioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Licken Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I drink very rarely. Most alcohol makes my skin burn and it is so uncomfortable that I avoid it. I do have the occasional glass and can usually tell by the first mouthful if I am going to go red!! It looks awful and it hurts - why would anyone want to do that. People just accept it now I think, but I do avoid situations where people expect me to drink sociably because I'm just not interested! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Hubby and I only drink when we go to the pub which isn't that often, we'd much rather go and eat out at a restaurent and just have water with our food. We never, ever drink at home and we both hate wine. We don't really get funny looks as a rare trip to the pub just means that we are in the mood for a drink, if we don't feel like drinking we don't go at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 (edited) I don't drink alcohol at all. I've never had any real problems socially.....except with one idiot who thought it highly amusing to put gin in my glass of fizzy water when it was his round. He got told. In fact I could smell it before I drank it so his cunning plot failed. He was the one who ended up being embarrassed. I think I must be one of those people who doesn't have the enzyme to synthesise alcohol...before I stopped drinking I found that I was practically unconscious after a few sips....and ill for days afterwards. Not worth it for me. I don't object to others having a good time and enjoying a tincture or two though! Edited April 13, 2008 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa the Duchess Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 We both drink, me wine, DH Guinness or beer. We drink at home, in the pub, restaurants, anywhere really Some of our friends drink, others don't, some for health reasons, others for weight reasons I don't mind at all if people don't drink...I cannot abide being around really drunk people Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I have a terrible repulation because I make lots of alcoholic tipples, wine and cider but most of it gets given away as gifts because I don't drink much at all myself. We'll have the odd evening where we'll open a bottle of wine but it usually lasts a whole weekend as neither of us want more than a glass. The last time I had anything alcoholic to drink was a fortnight ago when we met up with Lesley and Carl and Lesley and I shared a bottle of Perry. If LSH and I go out for a meal, we'll usually both have a glass of orange juice and lemonade. I had too many hangovers in my late teens to know that drinking a lot isn't much fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I don't drink much and now I've left my lab don't go on their weekly drinking sessions. It was very tricky, I liked my lab, but they socialised by binge drinking and I'd rather not do that. It's when people are out to drink more than one or two that it's a problem. I can't get through that much soft drink, let alone alcohol. Beer makes me sick and wine makes me sleep now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 The Hubby didn't drink at all for about 2 years,following a nasty incident with Whiskey, a ditch & some pals Said pals did find it odd to be out with someone who didn't drink,but they got used to it & they ended up going to places that sold a particular alcohol free lager that he drank. A couple of them even came out in sympathy, & needless to say,they found it very handy whenever driving was involved He often said how ridiculous & unfunny they were when they had drunk too much He does drink now,but like me,in moderation,& never,ever spirits (although I do love a drop of Scotch as a treat) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I find it is people who go out just to drink, that have problem with people not drinking... People who go out to enjoy chatting, being together, eating and all that, do not usually mind, but when a group goes out just to get drunk, then the idea of someone staying sober somehow bothers them, and it becomes uncomfortable for the sober person to be amongst people who are slowly losing their coherence and common sense as the evening goes by... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I do enjoy a drink - especially a G&T! - but these days I find my alcohol tolerance is less and less. Worse, about ten years ago, I found that drinking started to trigger migraines (I already had them, but there hadn't been a connection before). As anyone who suffers from them will know, NOTHING is worth having a migraine the next day for! I do still drink, but not much - and also I prefer to drive myself to places, so that I can control when I come home; spent too many evenings waiting for cabs that never turn up, or waiting for friends to be ready to go (or worse still, leaving before I'm ready!). So my regular consumption is probably about 2 units a week. My friends don't mind after all, I'm always available to give them a lift home, but it is a bit boring when they're all drunk and finding things hilariously funny, and I'm not! I never go drinking after work - why would I want to go to somewhere that's so noisy you can't hear anything, where you have to stand up because there are hardly any seats, and where you are paying £6 for a glass of wine? I do like country pubs though. My biggest problem is what to drink - I don't like coke, or any fizzy drinks, can't stand alcohol-free lager. Orange juice is ok, but I can only manage a couple, and things like Ame are a bit too sweet. At friends' houses I usually just drink lots of tap water, and make myself a cup of tea. What do other non-drinkers drink? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I don't drink at the moment because of the Lighterlife. I don't drink at home unless we have people over but I have been a HUGE drinker - I'm the girl who could down 10 pints! I don't think I'll ever drink like that again but I'll probably do a bottle of wine if I have my mate over - she will do two! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa the Duchess Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 My biggest problem is what to drink - I don't like coke, or any fizzy drinks, can't stand alcohol-free lager. Orange juice is ok, but I can only manage a couple, and things like Ame are a bit too sweet. At friends' houses I usually just drink lots of tap water, and make myself a cup of tea. What do other non-drinkers drink? I never drink during the day, when I am in social situations in the daytime I drink Soda and Lime with ice, which is very nice Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairy&cake Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I don't drink a drop. At all. I woke up one day aged 18 and though whats the point? I felt awful, and it makes me depressed. although i do miss cocktails! I'd rather stick to my Cream Soda. People are uncomfortable with me not drinking, especially certain member of the inlaws, they think im doing it to be stuck up and boring. But i'd rather not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I hardly ever drink either. Most people who know me assume I am teetotal, but I'm not. We don't really socialise in pubs partly I'm sure because of having children. We tend to drink tea and coffee at home with our friends!! Wine makes me go bright red and also blocks my nose up. I also don't usually like the taste very much either. Alcohol is too expensive to buy for home really and we just don't seem to have it or want it. I have never, ever been drunk in my whole life. I don't like feeling out of control and as alcohol affects me very quickly I stop before finishing the first drink! But I like some drinks - Baileys (which I haven't had for years), Pernod and blackcurrant and malibu on ice (no mixer). If I have a drink out, it will usually be a fruit juice or J2O. Now, I'd really like a pernod and black!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I probaly drink about 2 or 3 times a year and then its only a couple of glasses of wine or a couple of bottles of lager at a barbeque. Hubby rarely drinks either, we are just not in to it. We both had wilder days when we were youngsters going out on the town, so we havent missed out. I just dont see the point going out in town, spending £50/£60 on booze just to get a hangover out of it! I dont mind being called a "damp squid" either I just enjoy doing other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 We both had wilder days when we were youngsters going out on the town, so we havent missed out. Do you think I've missed out on something worth doing then?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 We both had wilder days when we were youngsters going out on the town, so we havent missed out. Do you think I've missed out on something worth doing then?? Definitely not rooms spinning, being sick in taxis, drinking a whole bottle of vodka!, ewwww I can still taste it now. I think i worded it wrong by saying "missed out" some people think its funny that my hubby doesnt drink or enjoy drinking anymore, I suppose what im trying to say is that we've had our wilder days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I have too - without alcohol - but I plan to have a few more! I will never be 'past it'!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina C Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Steady on Ginette I drink. I enjoy it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisa33 Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I regularly drink. Cider, Vodka or Wine. Probably too much than good for me but I don't care because I enjoy it. I don't care whether other people drink or not. I do care when people think they're better than others because they do drink or they because they don't drink. Life is not worth worrying about what others think of you. Anyway off for another cider now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjules Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Well said Lisa!! I too enjoy alcohol and I don't mind if people don't drink - but I am familiar with the uncomfortable feeling of being judged as a lesser being by those who don't partake. I also find it inconvenient to have to make a cup of tea for the person not drinking when I'm half cut!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 but I don't care because I enjoy it. Life is not worth worrying about what others think of you. good for you I dont drink so much as I stopped enjoying it I think. I completely agree with your other above statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 The only time I get annoyed with the non-drinkers is when they don't stand their round. So many of them drink those expensive mixy drinks now but think they don't need to buy a round because they aren't drinking - yet often those drinks can cost as much or even more than the alchohol. I'll never forget years ago I went into a pub for lunch with my mate and she wanted a pineapple juice. Disgustingly small bottle of the stuff and it COST MORE THAN MY PINT (Fosters was on special offer). I just couldn't believe the poor value for money. When I'm not drinking I drink tap water. I don't buy a round because I have free drinks - I can't abide the thought of paying for water - in McDonalds earlier I looked at the price of the water and it was £1.09 - for what I call a "small" bottle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 We hardly ever go out, but when we do , if I've the keys, it's soft all the way for me.. Now that is something people really struggle to deal with.. I get""but you can have ONE" all the evening, until I get ratty with them.. Hence the hardly go out!! Do like a glass of wine in the eve tho' feel like the day is done, and I can relax.. It is only one tho'- promise!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
