Do you drink, and what are your thoughts on it?

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I don't have any problem with drinking or people who drink. It seems like almost everyone drinks, and abstaining is pretty unusual. The thing is, I don't have a well-defined reason for not drinking, I just don't. Sometimes I wonder what it's like, or why it's so appealing. Sometimes I imagine I might go to the store and just buy a few beers to try it. But I never do.

It seems like almost everyone gets drinking experience before they're 21 (or of legal drinking age wherever they are), but that would obviously have put me into social situations that I would have had absolutely no desire to be in (not to mention I'm a bit of a mama's boy so I believe I'd have had the fortitude to refuse even if I were to find myself at a party or whatever). So obviously, initial drinking experience tends to be social in nature (at least I assume it is), so that rules out my early exposure to it.

But then you turn 21, and suddenly something that was "bad" becomes something you're expected to do. I just can't reconcile that. How can I be a non-drinker one day and then a drinker the next? This is also no doubt reinforced by the fact that my mom doesn't drink, and generally frowns upon it (despite the fact that my dad drinks and most people on her side of the family also drink). I don't know if she'd be disappointed if I drank, but it's not like I really want to anyway. I just have a passing curiosity in it.

Do a lot of people here not drink? Are your "reasons" for not drinking similar, or different?

Nope, and I'm not legal. My reasons are I just don't like it.

I used to drink to get drunk which is occasionally fun and makes me much more talkative so I wouldn't be bored or look weird and quiet at social events. I don't anymore, because I don't like the taste, and I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather be quiet and not social rather than acting like a drunk idiot and having a hangover the next day. If you like it and enjoy it though, nothing wrong with that.

I've been a serious drinker and a non drinker. Nowadays, I'll take a drink or two socially. I find it a bit of an expensive and not particularly constructive thing to do.

Abstention is quite unusual. They don't call it social lubricant for nothing. I don't think you need a reason to not do something, rather, it's the other way around.

It can be fun to be inebriated, but its a very overrated pleasure. I prefer to buy a new game over getting drunk, this year alone i've been drunk maby 2 times, CBA to drink really.

I've bought a beer and placed it in my fridge a few months ago, i bought it because i "could get a taste for beer at some point", but so far... I'm sure that in a thousand years, archaeologists will dig it up and celebrate the find.

I find drinking mildly unpleasant. On the rare occasions when I drink a small amount I regret that I can't do things like reading, driving, writing, and so on. I'm also a natural lightweight with alcohol, and combined with my lack of tolerance it takes two or three beers for me to feel pretty buzzed. I think it must be partially genetic, since no one in my family is even a moderate drinker.

On the other hand, I can adduce a few instances where I was more socially open while drinking, so I'm not completely opposed to it.

I drank heavily before the age of 18 but the hangovers were so rotten I quit .. lol then my mom demanded to buy my "first" drink at 21 lol and I was soooo not into it by then .

Tolerance to alcohol doesn't work like that. Tolerance to alcohol is built up, and in reverse has to be detoxed to go back. Once you hit a certain level (depending on your physiology) you are hooked and the body takes damage.

When i was 20-ish, i could drink lots more (because my friends dragged me along to pubs, clubs and bars) than i can now @ 30-ish, i hardly ever go out which means that i'm like you and two beers/glasses of wine makes my head spin.

There are some that say that genetic predispositions play a role, but choice seems to be a big factor. In my family there are some relatives which has had drinking problems, but that has never affected me. I guess if i lived a normal life and tried to "fit in" more, i probably would be more exposed to alcohol and could be in danger - assuming the hypothesis had merit.

Fortunately, I'm an Aspie and i see little need to socialise with others

I'm way over age and I don't drink because I don't like the taste. I have had some wine coolers before I was 21 and had a few margeritas (sp) but I get dizzy before I could finish it.

I think drinking is stupid and I don't understand why people get drunk. Drinking means you have to wait an hour before you can leave so it wears off. That is if you are driving and I think it depends on how many drinks you have had.

I skipped out on drinking on my 21st birthday. My husband however did it. He said it was a tradition for when you turn 21. I always tell him why must he follow it just because it's a tradition. I don't follow the trend.

I want a pint. Or seven. Can't have it though 'cos I is dietings.

I dont drink, simply because i dont know what kind of drunk i would be, the crying kind, or the violent kind. I really dont want to find out. That being said, i have no problem with others drinking, even as a Christian, i can accept drinking. I do not believe there is anything wrong with drinking, drunkeness though, i do. If you are drinking to the point where you are a public nuisance, then you have had enough.

On the other hand.... of late, there has been a push to fully legalize marijuana, something i support, even though i would never touch the stuff. If you can smoke responsibly and not be a public nuisance, i have no problem. I would rather encounter a stoner than a drunk. Consider a drunk driver who causes an accident and kills someone, if he had stayed home and smoked, he would be no threat, in fact, he would be supporting the economy! If he has the munchies and calls a local pizza place and orders 300 dollars worth of food, he has helped that business.

Help small business...or run over pedestrians: take your pick.

I'm normally teetotal, but very occasionally I will drink if I feel that it might be fun to be slightly drunk. That maybe happens once or twice a year, when I judge it the correct moment.

At those times, the only reason I drink is to become intoxicated, because the taste of alcohol is vile.

My thoughts are quite pleasant on it, generally. It helps numb them so I can sleep.

My rule, which I think applies to most things, is take everything in moderation. Getting drunk all the time, or driving drunk, can lead to BIG problems. Having a drink or two with friends or family or on special occasions is perfectly fine IMO as long as you're of legal age to drink in your country. I find a little bit helps me open up, but too much has no benefits and a lot of downsides.

Actually, I meant that the tendency to overindulge in alcohol could be genetic, not that one's tolerence is inherited. Although certainly genes aren't the only factor. I know people who abstain from drinking because they feel one of their parents drank too much, and others who drink heavily despite no problem drinking in the immediate family. Certainly people use it to facilitate effective socialization, so had either of us tried to fit in more it could have created a slippery slope. So next time I drink, I'll drink to not trying to fit in.

i am 21...I drink beer alot, not alot of beer just often. Like how some people drink a glass of wine before bed is how I dirnk beer =/ maybe a little more? (Helps me get by...)

when i'm around others like out with friends/foes I tend to over indulge and waiste a whole bunch of time that night and in recovery...so I try to avoid going to the bar or to parties.

drinking BEER helps me calm down, keeps me from feeding other habits, and one of my interests lately is trying every beer on the shelf at all convenient stores. I've covered safeway....albertsons is halfway, red apple has a long ways to go, QFC needs to be covered because the one a half hour away has some great looking beers. Best cheap beer IMO miller high life, best go to beer if you want a good one but are unsure- newcastle, i prefer dark beers such as brown ales, and amber ales. Drinking a hefeweizen by henry weinhard's right now. I try and buy the expensive brands mostly so I dont get too addicted and it keeps me from drinking alot.