I never got into it and I feel like I’m missing a huge social part of my life. I’ve tried alcohol and it just tastes bad. Maybe if I had enough to get inebriated I’d feel different, but so far nothing about the experience of drinking has been good. Also I grew up around Baptists who don’t have drinking in the culture, so maybe that’s part of it? My parents never had alcohol in the house and there was never beer/wine at family gatherings. I never even saw a full glass of beer in person until I was like 23.
Bars are too loud and there’s too much expectation to drink, parties have the same problem, drinking at home alone sounds sad. I go to concerts and I’m the only person without a huge glass of beer. People hand me drinks and I’m like “nah” and they get mega confused.
What do I do
Is this the opposite of a problem?
Most of the time a question of “does anyone else?” will be yes. As it is here. You are not alone. That’s okay.
I’m not a heavy drinker. My parents don’t have great drinking habits.
I go to a lot of concerts. I usually don’t get anything to drink. Most people don’t care. Though maybe that depends on the scene.
On dates I’ll usually have one, or two if it’s going well. To my mind alcohol makes you think less about the long term, and that makes it easier to take risks like asking “do you wanna make out?”
Not all bars are loud. There’s semi-famously Burp Castle in Manhattan where they will literally shush you if it’s too loud. My go-to bar has music playing inside and a quiet back yard. Lots of places like that exist. You don’t have to go to one that’s blasting music or television.
Sometimes we go out for drinks at work. No one gives the guy who doesn’t drink for religious reasons shit. Nor the guy who wasn’t drinking for “I’m taking a month off from beer” reasons.
Drinking at home alone is a bad idea though. Do not recommend. That way lies sorrow and poor health.
I usually get like a rum and coke or whisky ginger ale. The soda dominates the flavor. I don’t really like sour beer. It often tastes like I’ve already thrown up, but my friend loves that shit. I don’t know anything about wine but there’s a range of flavor available there.
Anyway. You shouldn’t feel obligated to drink if you don’t want to. It has a bunch of tradeoffs that can get expensive.