Wow! I love this article. It's from a completely different point of view than my own, but I couldn't agree more.
There have been so many times when I've been around friends or family members who drink and I can feel them glaring at me. It's as if they wish I was drinking just to ease their own comfort. But why does my not drinking make them so uncomfortable? I have oftentimes wondered this. Maybe they feel like I'm judging them or maybe they think I'm uptight.
On the contrary, I'm completely comfortable being around people who drink. I've been around it almost my entire life. And while it isn't something I would prefer doing, it is something that I have accepted as part of other people's lives.
My sister, B, and I had lunch today. We were discussing people who drink versus people who do not. She said she feels like a granny around all her friends because she just isn't into drinking. I told her that society makes her feel that way and it's not right.
It's just like those old public service announcements about kids doing drugs or smoking cigarettes because they were trying to be "cool." Adults laugh at those advertisements because they think they're so corny. After all, adults are independent thinkers who make choices based on what they want to do not what others expect of them. Well, I beg to differ. Lots of adults still base their decisions on peer pressure.
After all, why do you think people drink anyways? Because it tastes delicious? No. Because it makes you feel wonderful? No. Because it doesn't cost anything? No. Because it's acceptable in society and they grew up around it and have made it a part of their lifestyle and can't imagine their life without it? Yes.
Sadly, drinking is the norm and people don't like to be different.
People ask me why I don't drink and I reply-freedom. Freedom from having to stop by the liquor store on my way home. Freedom from getting wasted and making a complete fool of myself. Freedom from having to find someone to drive me home. Freedom from being laughed at. Freedom from waking up with diarrhea and a massive headache. Freedom from wasting hours of my life doing something that I won't even remember. Freedom from something that can easily become an addiction. I'm not judging people who drink. I love all my friends and family members who do. I just felt the need to state the reasons why I don't. So you can stop glaring now....
