Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire When you tell people you don't like to drink

When deployed, NOBODY drank NA beer even though it was always available.

It’s been years for me.

I am not against drinking. I am against drunkenness.

certainly useful as a truth serum for sure...

Incremental. Alcoholics run in my family. Nobody ever took their first drink and said I want to be an alcoholic. Ruined lives and families. Worked on the Rez too. I have seen the destruction caused by this drug. I do like being not in control. Too many bad memories from childhood. Enough said. Sin too is incremental. So easy to get on a slippery slope in life.

Some people have pulled themselves from the ravages of alcoholism and those that have never been to rock bottom cannot understand until they get there.
I would never wish it upon anyone.
Families and friendships demolished, careers destroyed, serious health issues etc...etc.
The struggle to say no to alcohol takes strength and courage after battling years of addiction.
Those that have had the strength to rebuild their lives from the wreckage of alcoholism should be congratulated and applauded not mocked.
Shame on those that do.

I don't Drink, My dad did & scared the [bleep] out of me.

His father Drank a lot until he had a terminal experience drinking and driving. The accident killed Him & his wife & injured everyone else in the car. My dad was fortunate to not be in the car when the accident happened.

Generally I do not care for alcohol taste. Perhaps my gluten intolerance that I recently became aware of may play in with my dislike of alcohol. Or perhaps the knowledge of my family history is more of a factor for me.

I have probably had 2 beers in the last 30 years.I never acquired the taste and decided that it wasn't worth the effort. Not to mention my brother drinking himself to death. I suppose if I did like te taste I would be like him.

There is a big difference in "don't drink" and "can't drink". I can respect a man who says he don't drink, that's great, it's a choice. The ones that piss me off are the guys who brag constantly about being "clean and sober" for however long and expect you to treat them like some kind of a hero then try to preach to me when I have a drink. That just tells me that they can't drink because they have a weak mind and a lack of self control, no different than a drug addict. Some, like myself keep a little good whiskey around and can have a toddy in the evening or a beer or two with the guys without getting stupid and letting it become a problem. BA

I thought this addressed some of the points brought up in this thread. Nobody likes a self righteous scold and no one really likes a bad drunk. IMO some people should not drink a drop ever because they turn into jerks quickly.

My family had people in it that I just didn't want anything to do with when they even started drinking. I guess it's some sort of brain chemistry thing?

I was pretty careful about my own drinking. I was also a pretty messy bachelor. When the returnable bottle fee hit I just started tossing empty beer bottles under the sink until the door would not close then load up a contractor size garbage bag and walked into the store looking like Santa with a full bag out for delivery.

I was living in a small town where people knew me and I ended up feeling uneasy counting out 100 plus bottles at the redemption desk. I decided that was probably not a good sign and quit a little over 38 years ago. Given my family back ground that was probably a wise choice for me.

Apologies if the "God molding me" part of the essay is off putting for some. I thought it was well enough written to post for the Campfire's consideration. Thoughts?

The ones that get offended by talking bad about drinking booze are the ones that might need to do some soul searching. If you react to anti-alcohol posts and testimonies as if somebody insulted your best friend, there might be a reason. It has a way of warping a person's thinking, and it is absolutely not your best friend.

A six pack of beer will.last a month or more in my fridge. I do enjoy a cool brew on occasion. Someone enjoys a brew or cocktail responsibly, good for them. Enjoy. Just not my thing.

Anyone who wears the uniform, regardless of age, should be allowed to drink whatever the he'll they want.

A person can always go back to drinking but you can't have time and distance from your last drink (as a kind of self check up) until you put the last one down.

Anybody is welcome to go to an open AA meeting. Just say something to the effect of, "Hi I'm Billy Bob and I'd just like to listen tonight." Or " Hi I'm Bubba and I've decide to try a time out from drinking. I think I can control it but I thought it might be a good idea to speak with some others who are exploring this".

If you are not a smoker I'd suggest checking for a non smoking meeting.

Closed meetings are for people that have decided "Aw crap, alcohol is controlling me , I need to make it a priority to not drink (just one day at a time) and find a sponsor I can relate to and work the steps..

If you go listen for stories about how their brains just did the happy dance when they first started drinking.... before it started taking more and more to chase after the happy place feeling.

I have a lot of drinking friends. Heck, I take a shot or a beer about every day myself. I have stopped though going to bars, hanging out at events, public or back yard, where there will be heavy drinking. Not being judgmental, just that my needs and wants have changed with regards to being drunk.

I don't like a lot of people, but I would never tell them to drink. That's a personal decision; one that I don't understand but whatever...

I’m gonna be honest I’m drinking reading this

That's where I found myself a couple of years ago - and that's when I decided to quit. This was shortly after I witnessed my boss slowly die from alcohol-abuse related cirrhosis, which noone at work realized he was even drinking until after he died and his daughter told me his story.
I haven't had a single sip of any kind of alcohol since the day I decided to stop.

Some folks are hell bent on self destruction, alcohol or not.

I don't like coffee, but do like some beers.
Go figure.
Always been quality over quantity.

For me it was OP Rum and Gin when I was twelve. I drank it at Ho chi Minh's place after milking the cows and doing the milk run. I had just enough time to walk to church and put on my alterboy duds and pick up that bloody great crucifix to lead the way down the aisle at the Catholic church in Longreach QLD. That stuff hit like a ton of sick and misery causing possibly the unsteadiest shuffle down an aisle ever. Old Dean Daly was cool though...just parked me on a chair off to the side and left me to my misery. Coolest Catholic priest to ever walk the earth, never even said a single word to me about it.

Holy Christ I was sick. I did it a couple of times more in a less spectacular fashion and just didn't ever bother again.

Now I occasionally take a sip of Hennessey XO in a cup of coffee as I like the smell, and because just one teaspoon sends me asleep almost immediately.

Had a friend who couldn't mix alcohol and medication, so he drank NA beer. Never been a big fan of beer in quantity, but I would have an NA with him, and now keep some on hand for post-lawn mowing and such.

This post is awesome.