I'm a sober man...anyone else?

[Bill Douglas]

I'm drinking enough to make up for you guys.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by quicksix

A variation heard in the rooms,
Im allergic, I break out in a rash.
A rash of warrants.

I'm allergic to sharks, I break out in bites.

[creaturecat]

3-4 drinks a week. never all at once.
had a few friends die young - from having that monkey on their back. was not pretty.

[Por_sha911]

I used to say:
"I don't have a drinking problem.
I drink.
I get drunk.
I fall down.
No problem."

It sounds funny but it was a dangerous problem. I also had a penchant for recreational chemicals of differing varieties (also stopped in 1982).
Needless to say, I would have died a long time ago if I hadn't given those things up.

[Bill Douglas]

My father was an alcoholic.

Stupid loser pig.

[aigel]

Count me in. 4 years this month. You only have to be a regular / moderate drinker to benefit from getting sober. I eased into it just wanting a break for a few months, then aiming for a year and after a year, deciding I wasn't worth going back.

Better sleep including dreams, weight control, no more beer boobs, never worried if I could still drive, more meaningful conversations, deeper relationships, more reasonable decisions such as going home and going to bed on time and no more hangovers or groggy mornings! As a result, more quality time on weekends, including more exercise.

I love the new NA beers too, they were key in my journey. Can take them to a party, fill a glass and everyone will leave you alone. Same ordering at a pub if they carry it. No peer pressure.

I still can drink half a glass of wine or champagne, but I don't like regular beer any longer. I rarely drink even these half servings now. And strangely when I do, I never feel like I want more, quite the opposite, even a hint of a possible buzz and I am done.

It's had a good effect on my spouse, who also drinks a lot less now and friends as well who drink less when they come visit now. My kids who are learning how to drink right now are also seeing a good role model. Again, better conversations and deeper relationships as a result.

Cheers (!)

George

[look 171]

I never did too much drinking even back in my college days. Sure, I got hammered a few times but the next day, I had to work in my cabinet shop and went out to train for bike races. Plus, I hated that feeling of buzz. I still drink socially but that's couple beers two or three times a year. last I had a drink was some whisky at a stake house celebrating an old friend's B day and a beer at a Mexican restaurant. That's for this whole year. I'm not religious or anything but just don't have the urge for it. A few of the guys I go riding with can't seem to understand it.

[pavulon]

Mocktails have become a thing.

“About 42% of millennials drink on a regular basis, and only 21% of Gen Z drinks on a regular basis,”

https://www.marketplace.org/2022/10/24/whats-driving-the-boom-in-the-non-alcoholic-drink-industry/

[Tobra]

I have never been much of a drinker, neither of the parents were, so I guess I inherited the trait. I have been very fortunate in the genetic lottery

[Jeff Higgins]

My wife and I enjoy a good bottle of wine with a good dinner. We both like to cook and cook well, with part of the experience being the enjoyment of a well chosen bottle of wine to go with it. I think we drink 4-6 bottles a month.

I like a good Scotch or a good Irish Whiskey. I keep several varieties in the liquor cabinet. Most of them last a year or better, with the really special ones lasting several.

We don't even keep beer in the house. We never made some kind of a conscious decision not to, we just don't drink much of it. I'll have a pint when out with friends doing something, when we stop for lunch or something, but that's about it.

My dad and his siblings all drank to excess. Too many of the folks I travelled the world with while fixing airplanes did as well. I've been around, and have dealt with too many drunks to ever want to impose that burden on anyone else. I've also lost a few good friends to the bottle, and have seen what that does to their loved ones.

In moderation, alcohol can be wonderful. I guess we can say that about a lot of things. We are all wired a little differently from one another, with some able to to "dance with this devil" on their terms, some not. As long as we know who we are and act accordingly, all goes well. It sure can go bad in a hurry for some, though...

[jyl]

My son is having significant mental health challenges, and moved back home for a while. So first thing I did was take all the spoons out of the house. Second thing was to take all the alcohol out of the house. We're an unarmed and dry house now.

Oh, I guess I can tell the bad guy to hang on while I put on my house slippers and go to the garage and undo multiple locks and fetch my target .22 and then go to another place with another set of keys and fetch my fancy target .22LR rounds - that doesn't sound good, but this won't last forever. I hope.

The dry house part - I don't mind it. If I want to meet a buddy for a beer, I do, and if people are coming over for dinner, I go to my office and fetch a bottle of wine - but I don't come home and drink the nightly cocktails for no reason other than boredom. This is good. I like it.

[911 Rod]

I find my drinking to be part of my routine.
Have a beer when I get home, a little wine with dinner and then a cocktail in front of the tube.
I guess the same with people that smoke.

[mathew112]

Not really. I think there is nothing wrong with being a social drinker. drinking with friends and family is actually fun.

[ramonesfreak]

My parents didn’t drink. I had my first drink when I was 13 and drank as often as a teenager could until I turned 21. When I turned 16 my friends designated me as the driver when we went anywhere because I was the best drunk driver of the bunch. When I turned 21 I started drinking every day and this continued until I was about 48. During the week I would drink 2 bottles of wine after work every night. On weekends, I would drink from Friday night until Sunday. I would have 6 beers in me by 9am on a Saturday morning. I was smoking 2 packs per day from age 13.

I eventually quite smoking when I was 45 and for reasons I don’t understand, about 3 years ago the desire to drink just disappeared. I first noticed that I would open a beer and it would take me half the day to finish it. Eventually I just stopped going to the store to buy any alcohol. I can’t remember the last time I brought alcohol into the house. I have had friends/ family die from alcohol abuse and many friends quit and go AA or simply ruin their lives. I managed to survive in a very challenging career hungover for most of my adult working life but my health suffered. Thankfully never had any legal trouble or destroyed any relationships.

Thankfully this is all behind me, for now. I don’t claim to have quit forever and have no intention of not having a beer with dinner etc if I want one, but my days of behaving like a maniac* are over

* I always knew I blacked out often but when my now wife moved in here and started telling me what I had done like running around the front yard in my underwear, or she would come home from the hairdresser and find me passed out in my man cave thinking I was dead……the reality of what I was doing became more clear. When you drink alone for 30 years you don’t even think about these things