How important is alcohol?

For me, settling down on an evening to a nice glass of red, a cold G & T, or a smooth Amaretto (numerous other drinks are available and could be added to my list ) is one of life's many pleasures. I stick generally to the 14 recommended units and have at least two alcohol free days a week, but rules are made to be broken and these go by the board on high days and holidays. I'm puzzled as to why anyone should make non drinkers feel odd - we have several friends who don't drink and I've never noticed this. Of course it works both ways.

Hear hear!

I'm tee total. No objection to people having a drink in moderation, I just don't like any alcoholic drinks.
Like vampire queen people sometimes think I am odd ( probably right in some respects ).
Perfectly happy with my Diet Coke or fruit drink. I have often been uncomfortable in social situations when friends act very differently after just a couple of drinks. I'm sure they don't think they do but I can spot when someone has has just that tiny bit too much.

I will sit with you then gillybob. I love a G&T and a glass of wine or 3 and indulge in both 3 times a week. It is a treat I look forward to. When I had my knee op I didn't have a drink for 6/7 weeks and didn't miss it or long to be off the pain relief but happily embraced it again.
I have several non drinking friends and we happily coexist, especially in times when we used to socialize and they offered to drive!!.

I occasionally have a social glass of wine or a cider but otherwise alcohol plays no part in my life at all I ve always found pubs a bit overpowering I m just not that comfortable in a pub, unfortunately you are then classed as a snob which is not true at all ..... it's not that I ve never been drunk I have on occasions when I was young at parties but since reaching adulthood I have never felt the need to look for a drink
They definitely aren't alcohol dependant ....their social lives are dominated by the availability of alcohol ........ummmm do I need to enlarge on those two statements

Not had a drink in 34 years !!

I am the same about wine, as at sometime during the last year, I went completely off it. I never was a great one for having a drink, but did enjoy a good red, then I realised that I really didn't like it anymore, and so have not had a drink for ages. Good or bad, I don't know, but I don't miss it at all.( I'm saving it all up for Ruby )

If people make you feel like and oddball/spoilsport for saying no after a couple of glasses, imagine what it's like for teetotallers.

I can't tell you how many times I've been called miserable (and worse) for not wanting to drink or been told I won't be able to enjoy myself.

It's not that I'm anti-alcohol although as I in another post I don't understand why people want to poison themselves. But my real reason is that I actually don't like the taste of most drinks and I absolutely hate the physical sensations of being tipsy.

Also drunk people are unpredictable and that scares me (previous life experience).

Phew! Its not just me then who is happy with the odd glass. I've been made to feel such an oddball/spoilsport by others when I've said 'no thanks' to another glass of wine or even just chose a soft drink.

I probably drink too much

I only drink on birthdays and Ch*%$ even then I'll have 2-3 glasses of wine and then it's soft drinks for me.
If we go out for a meal I'll be driving so no alcohol then.
Alcohol has never been important to me.

I am not a drinker these days. I like a glass of wine or beer with a meal, but rarely have more than one and only about three times a week. The exception was at a reception at SGS’s uni at the weekend. The wine was complementary and I had my week's worth in one evening and I felt it the next day! The rest of my weekend was dry! My favourite drink is ginger beer - I can happily drink that all day long.

I can't see the point of alcohol. It's a poison. People wouldn't willingly swallow arsenic yet they'll pour alcohol down their throats until they don't know what they're doing and then suffer the after effects the next day.

Alcohol has a lot to answer for in my opinion but that is coloured by my experiences of course. It's fine in moderation but I gave it up to yrs ago and have never missed it. I take a sip of champagne at weddings or special occasions.

I was totally shocked when I was leaving teaching and all the staff met up at a pub first before going on for a meal. The 3 younger teachers had chosen this meeting place because it was Happy Hour which meant all the drinks were half price and the idea apparently was to get as much alcohol down as possible before going on for the meal.

I like a drink, possibly too much (!) but I found this completely alien.

I usually open a bottle of wine on Friday night and it will last me until Sunday night - then nothing for the rest of the week. When going out I would often offer to drive home because I don't need alcohol to have a good time.

"Driven to the next state each night to get some booze..." sounds like a measure of dependence on it, even if just socially.

I was never a drinker, drank to be "sociable" in company. I can't understand why older people would want to drink, enough to contend with, without adding being tipsy to the equation.

Now on the rare occasion that I do drink, I like the new light wines with fruit flavours.