People who don't drink

[Gianna]

I'm not big on drinking and I'm having a really hard time meeting friends who don't involve drinking with everything they do. Is there hope out there!? How many of you drink or do things with friends that don't involve alcohol? 

[Applegarden8]

I only seek out pepople who don't drink regularly. It's ok, you can do a lot of things. We plan trips to the sea, we always have smth to talk about, even with some light drinkers, it's ok. Otherwise I am seeking out for people with similar interests and hobbies. For example I tend to hang out with musicians more.

[hoodrow trillson]

I had a long period where I willfully abstained from any drugs (ie: alcohol & weed, I wanted to see what it was like to be 100% straight edge for a few years) and it was great but you have to find the right people.  I’ve had luck with finding people who don’t do that stuff in hobby/clubs like painting, rock climbing, dance lessons, video games etc.  You make friends with them and if they think you’re cool they’ll hang out with you and most of the time it won’t involve alcohol since you can tell them from the beginning that you don’t drink—so your new friendship won’t be based on drinking from the beginning.

Other times, I would chill with people who do drink (like old friends, their friends, etc) but I’d get like a Coke or like some tasty drink that wasn’t alcohol (nobody is going to check your drink anyways) and then leave before they would get too wasted and annoying to be around lol.

It’s easy to balance all of this if you’re an extrovert for sure.

Edited July 9, 2021 by hoodrow trillson

[RendHeaven]

5 hours ago, Gianna said:

I'm not big on drinking and I'm having a really hard time meeting friends who don't involve drinking with everything they do. Is there hope out there!? How many of you drink or do things with friends that don't involve alcohol? 

I've never had alcohol in my life (21 y/o), and I don't see that ever changing.

It's absolutely possible to make strong friendships. Just seek the right people. It's ok if they drink and you don't. Be careful not to come off as judgey, and they'll still love you!

[Snuitje]

@Gianna Don't drink alcohol, except on the rare occasion like a wedding where I drink 1 vodka. As long as people don't go overboard with alcohol (binge drinking) I'm okay with it. I drink with them just spring water.

Here in The Netherlands I come across a lot of people who don't drink. But these people tend to be more timid and shy.

Edited July 9, 2021 by Snuitje

[Ima Freeman]

It's very interesting how deep the consumption of alcohol is rooted in western culture. 
It's one of the few drugs which got grandfathered into being legal today because it was always so popular.

You can see that most people who go out at night drink alcohol. But why? 
Maybe humans aren't made to meet new people all the time and and so they drink, to make them less anxious and more open to others.

[Gabith]

I drink like once per year but I like to smoke weed when I go out with friends. Two of my three regular friends don't drink so it's cool

And the one who drink never drink too much.

But when I see around us, I must admit a lot of people drinks a lot ! Alcohol is a hell of drug

Edited July 9, 2021 by Gabith

[bejapuskas]

I guess you need to find nice, caring, sensitive friends who choose to face their suffering head-on without escaping it through drugs, the kinds that are there for others, that are reliable. There are people like that, but if you have spent so many years building a circle of friends that looks somehow, sometimes it is necessary to leave.

[peanutspathtotruth]

48 minutes ago, bejapuskas said:

I guess you need to find nice, caring, sensitive friends who choose to face their suffering head-on without escaping it through drugs, the kinds that are there for others, that are reliable. There are people like that, but if you have spent so many years building a circle of friends that looks somehow, sometimes it is necessary to leave.

This! It's important to be honest and compassionate to oneself - and that can mean cutting off relations that show this discrepancy. When I'm around friends, even good friends, who cope hard with escapism and hedonistic fixation, I feel this energetic discord which just tells me to move on. 

Edited July 9, 2021 by peanutspathtotruth

[Zeroguy]

Don't drink, don't smoke. Feeling like God actually. (sometimes I do drink but it's just one glass and really just for pleasure of it not to get drunk) 

But friends well. 

Haha

Pays off not to have or indulge in vices. 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Zeroguy

[Snuitje]

3 hours ago, Ima Freeman said:

It's very interesting how deep the consumption of alcohol is rooted in western culture. 
It's one of the few drugs which got grandfathered into being legal today because it was always so popular.

You can see that most people who go out at night drink alcohol. But why? 
Maybe humans aren't made to meet new people all the time and and so they drink, to make them less anxious and more open to others.

According to statistics the amount of beer being consumed is dropping each year (at least here in The Netherlands).

Can be a lot of different reasons why people drink alcohol when going out. Reasons I observed:

1. They don't know why they do it, because it's been ingrained in their programming by culture / friends.

2. Group pressure / fear of not fitting in.

3. Escape from their stress/fears/pain etc.

4. Just being social.

I heard nr.4 a lot from my environment, which I never believed by looking at their behavior. These people were almost always drunk at the end of the night. There are people who drink a glass and call it a night (excluding the BOB, the driver who doesn't (supposed) drink). To them Nr.4 applies.