Hey Will, listen to Navy and Sweet, listen to me, we are telling you straight. When someone offers to buy you a drink just smile, say thanks, and order a coke. Know what I mean? Smooth and easy, it's all about the smile. You have no obligation to explain your choice, you have no reason to feel pressure. Take the ball out of play man, your in control..

You are your own person. Of course you have a choice.

You have to understand that social drinking is "social." If someone buys you a "drink" or offers to, and you refuse it, that is a bit like refusing to be social (its construed as being unfriendly or stuck up) with them.

I had the same problem, and I found that they don't like it when you order a coke either. So I order a non-alcoholic beer when I first come in and when they offer to buy me a drink that is what i am drinking. A lot of people don't even notice that your beer is non-alcoholic. I drink it with tomato juice. It tastes just like a real beer. If anyone notices that it is non-alcoholic and "complains" I tell them I am under doctors orders not to drink or that I would love a real beer but I'm taking anibuse.

But to just sit there and refuse drinks makes you look like a non-social person who is stuck up. Its not about drinking. Its about a social situation.

To answer your questions, "Would I try to get them to drink and why?"

No, personal choices are just that, PERSONAL...

But, IMO, the real question here is not drinking and trying to get others to join you. The real question is when two people form a relationship in which one drinks and one does not, is this aspect of the relationship creating a negative effect on the interaction between them? If the answer is yes, you might need to reconsider the validity of the relationship. If the answer is no, carry on.

So does that bother you?

I can see why it would bother you if they didn't respect that you didn't want to drink.

Question for those who don't drink. If you meet someone you get along well with (friend or more) would you continue to develop that friendship or relationship if you found out they did enjoy drinking?

I don't trust anyone who doesn't drink!

There's nothing wrong with wanting to drink. Just like there is nothing wrong with not wanting to drink. Neither makes a person better than the other. And it's not just those in their 20s who enjoy drinking.

Me too. Respect their choice.

DR OZ on TV said.....Feeding Your Heart
by Mehmet C. Oz, M.D.......... #


# Alcohol
If you don't have a problem with alcohol, having one alcoholic drink a night (4 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or 1.5 ounces of spirits) for women-up to two for men-seems to have a beneficial effect on your heart by raising levels of that healthy HDL cholesterol. It also helps you to wind down, so your blood pressure can do the same. Our preference: red wine, because it also contains antioxidants. ...i know you said you never like to try it but if you have high cholesterol it may help you:)and i think people offer drinks to people or food to try as a kind gesture not to be rude or ignorant but to be kind and if you reject in a rude way then they feel like you just being a snob to them now if they know you don't drink and you already told them ahead of time not to offer you nothing then they are ignorant to offer you it or maybe forgot :) i use to buy tons of friends beers and drinks when i use to go to bars a lot in the past ......but is is up to you and i guess most people in this world have a drink sometime sooner or later just to see what its like and its very relaxing a ice cold beer on a hot day

Because when we were little our mothers always told us "don't mock it till you try it" to make us eat things we didn't like.

I hear ya. Let's have a beer, and talk about it.

People look at me shocked when I informed them I don't drink. I get asked "Why not?" a lot to which I reply "Why should I?"

After hearing I don't drink, I then get asked, "Well, do you smoke? Get high??"

Why do people assume that I need to be inebriated or under any influence to enjoy my life? I prefer to live long enough to see my daughter's daughters. My life is interesting enough without smoking, drinking or drug use.

People just feel the need to "fit in". Most people i know that smoke, drink or use drugs started doing so because someone in their life was doing it. Pack mentality.

Continue standing apart... I stand with you!

Get a T-shirt that reads:

"I am giving up sex this week and you can't make me have any!"