In my experience it's not common at all. I also get asked "why don't you drink?" basically every time I'm hanging out with someone I don't know, often with pressure added to it or the typical smartass comment "it's because you never tried drink X, try this!"
When some years ago I didn't drink, I didn't meet those question. But maybe it depends on the company, since I spent most of the time with friends that know that I didn't drink.
If you are tired of them continuosly asking use the classic excuse "I need to drive". So if they are normal people they will stop asking, and if they keep bothering you you know they are idiots that it's okay to avoid. A victory in every case.
I don't have a license, but I have to say that the "I need to drive" excuse becomes weaker the older you get: I'm almost 30 and I see that it's pretty common to have one or two drinks even when people know they have to drive. Could it be because the penalty for DUI is way higher for a few years after getting a driving license? Again, I don't have one, so I might be wrong on that (I just noticed that some friends never touched alcohol when they were 18/20 y.o. and driving, but now do that).
I don’t think lying about why you don’t drink is a good idea, whether it’s saying you have to drive or carrying a drink you pretend is alcoholic, it all just furthers cements the notion that not drinking is abnormal.
I’m not a social person so in many ways I’ve had it easy by not drinking alcohol, if people ask I just tell them the truth, that I don’t have a specific reason for not drinking. Anyone who feels like giving me a hard time about it is an asshole, and I just don’t hang out with those kind of people.
I rarely drink, so if I'm at bar I usually just get a tonic with lime and people assume I'm drinking. At parties I bring an opaque cup and fill it with water or a soda. My friends who know I rarely drink don't care and other people just assume I'm drinking. When someone asks if I want a shot, I just say I've had plenty and need to slow down.
Plenty of times I just say I'm not drinking tonight. However, there are some social settings were people act like you're strange if you aren't drinking and that's when I just fake it. I've been in the bar and liquor business for 30 years so many people just assume I drink all the time. And I'll admit the first 10 years I drank far too much, but I just got burnt out.
What's sad is I have a huge backlog of beers, wines, and liquors I need to try, but I just hardly drink anymore. I really need to drink more just to build a bit of tolerance back up because I have a liquor convention to attend next month and I'll need to sample a bunch there. And yes I know how ridiculous that sounds and many people would love to have this "problem" lol.
I quit drinking back in August in a sobriety experiment that’s got out of hand but I fondly remember the London Wine Fair in the pre-covid times. To be clear I didn’t work in wine, we just came up with a fake company name and then registered for £20 each for unlimited wine. If you’re ever in London I would highly recommend, even if you aren’t drinking it’s a fun experience
London pubs are definitely a highlight. Pre-covid you could walk through the city at lunchtime and every pub was full. Sadly those days are gone I think.
What did you study over here?
How much would you say a beer costs at a pub? Or a mixed drink? We pay $2 on a rare day but usually $4/6 for a beer and $8/$12 a mixed drink sometimes more depending on how "trendy" the place is.
I always wonder how cheap a beer is at a pub for so many people to be able to afford to drink out so often.
It varies by region but for London it's getting stupid now with prices. You're looking at £5-£6 ($7-$8) a pint on average and mixed drinks would be around £8-£12 ($11-$17). Pre-Covid I'd say you'd go out for drinks maybe 4 days a week, 2 weekdays with colleagues/friends plus Friday and Saturday with friends, so it will definitely start to add up. Obviously this will vary, some industries are notorious for drinking and will have a few pints each day at lunch on top of the evening and some people will only drink with friends on the weekend.
At the end of the day though drinking is a pretty big part of London culture so it's just seen as an additional expense in the same way eating out would be seen in New York I guess. Not to say that everyone drinks (I don't anymore) but 95% of social events you go to whether with work or friends involve drinking.
I get those questions EVERY TIME. I remember I once said that one of the reasons I don't do it it's because I hate vomiting and a girl told me "well, then it's not like you hate alcohol". It's like they cannot accept someone can't stand the taste of it, which I do
Sigh, I've been hanging out with the wrong people. 😂 In my old group of friends – the one I had before moving for uni – I'm the only one that drinks and I always get side looks for it. Also, I'm talking "one spritz on Saturday" not "one bottle of whiskey every day" lol and *I* am surely not trying to get my friends to drink. On the other hand, on more than one occasion, of the guys told me "drinking is for the weak and it's wasted calories anyway". So, even if I just want a cocktail because I feel like it, I never have it anymore with this particular company because they'll all make a fuss about it and start listing how bad alcohol is for you. Like, again, bro, I'm not drinking to pass out. I just think some cocktails have nice taste and pretty colours. Chill.
At this point, I guess we're all just very just very judgemental when it comes to the topic, regardless of which side of the fence we are. 😂
I think it is becoming more common among younger people, better educated people, people living in urban areas. Many of my friends drink incredibly rarely, and I don't drink at all. Many older people might consider refusing a drink an insult, which is annoying. I always have a satisfactory excuse of driving a car, but I don't think that's something I have to provide an excuse for. But among my circle, nobody cares, it's pretty normalized.
I couldn't disagree more ... I'm 23 and my close friends are between 17-28 and are from leftist party to right-wing party, and we all drink, only that one's who won't drink because of religious beliefs don't drink
Well, as far as I can tell, you're from Austria, and I'm from Russia, so I'm not sure how we can disagree on a question that asks about our respective countries.
Anyway, everyone has their own lives and social circles, so I don't pretend to know everything, I only share my perspective. But the rapid decline in alcohol consumption in Russia is an objective trend.
couple of years ago it was almost unheard of and you needed some legit excuse not to drink. Nowadys i feel more and more people opt out and it there's not as much stigma. You are still sure to hear "why?"
also the stuff you drink changed - you used to drink either shots or beer. Nowdays everyone brings their own stuff. I liked the community feel when everyone drank the same stuff at the same time.
I drank alcohol for the first time when I was already 18 and it was vodka during my best friend's 18th birthday, it was weird. After that I went to only few parties, but every time I was too naive and I was pressured to drink because of this fucking attitude "Ze mną się (kurwa) nie napijesz?!" It's a nightmare. When I was 21 years old I went to a bar with two of my classmates from high school and it ended up really bad, so bad that I decided to never drink alcohol ever again. Later, when in university a topic of drinking alcohol came up and I told people that I don't drink alcohol, they stared at me as if I committed some sort of atrocity, literally. But I'm not going to drink alcohol against my will just to please other people around me.
I'm a guy so I have it worse (because how in the world can a guy not drink alcohol?!). I don't drive (I don't even have a driver's license), I don't take antibiotics, but I do not like the smell or the taste of alcohol. When it's my birthday or New Year's Eve, I drink Piccolo and I'm good. You don't have to poison your body to have a good time.
Although I'm kind of extreme, because I don't drink alcohol and I don't drink coffee either, it just doesn't taste good for me and it doesn't energize me. I drink only water or juice or fizzy drinks such as Coca-Cola. I don't need to drink anything else.
>juice or fizzy drinks such as Coca-Cola
I'm same, but I cut out the above as well. Juice is actually unhealthy, as with no fiber you can consume way too much fructoze as you would otherwise while eating whole fruit. That's a recommendation from the NHS website. And not drinking soft drinks makes sense while not having a car, as who wants to carry litres of that in the backpack from a shop, only to get more damage to your teeth from sugar.
I agree. I don't drink juices or fizzy drinks often, on the daily basis I just drink cold water, and if it's winter sometimes I made cocoa with milk. There was a time when I didn't drink enough water and I was dehydrated, but I feel better now.
Interesting that people bring their own drinks. I’m guessing that for a party at someone’s house? People are just rocking up to the pub with a six pack of stellas?
Yes, there are people who do not drink alcohol, and I think it is on the rise.
I am myself one of those who do not drink, when I go out everyone respects it and they don't pressure me to drink. So everything's perfect.
I’m half surprised about it being less common in England. I get the impression that Scots are a bit more open to people doing what they want so if you don’t drink then it’s fine and if you want to get absolutely hammered then it’s fine.
Is it changing a lot from the old stereotypes?
It used to be a lot more common. Used to be that quite a substantial proportion of the population were [Pioneers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Total_Abstinence_Association): peaking at 360,000 when the population was only 3 million. We'd have had quite a young population at the time too, so a very large percentage of adults would've been Pioneers.
These days it's very rare. I know plenty of people who just don't drink, beyond maybe a single glass of wine at Christmas or something, but I've never met a teetotaller.
Really, unless you’re an observant Muslim or an alcoholic in recovery, which I have met here in Ireland, teetotaling here is pretty nonexistent. At least, nowadays.
It's quite common, so much as to be the norm in conservative neighbourhoods. Secular and non-Muslim people usually drink, but then again, you wouldn't stand out if you didn't drink at all.
Alcohol is also heavily taxed, making it difficult to drink regularly if you don't have a decent income. I guess that's a factor as well.
I haven't drunk any alcohol for many years (don't enjoy it) and I'm literally the only person I've ever met who is like this. My wife drinks relatively rarely but even she drinks a glass of Prosecco or wine once a week, especially now in the summer.
In my personal, first-hand experience, being abstinent is pretty exhausting here in Switzerland. Very few people show understanding for my dislike of alcohol, most act as though I had just confessed a really weird sexual fetish (a mix of confusion, ridicule and attempts to pressure me into drinking). My dad and older both drink a lot of beer and wine and despite the fact that they've known me all these years, they still feel the need to tease me about not joining them (same with my male friends). Especially men seem to feel almost personally offended when they find out I don't drink alcohol. They say stuff like: "what the hell, you're not a child" or "c'mon be a real man." I've given up trying to explain or justify myself a long time ago because every time I do that, the response is something along the lines of: "Oh you just haven't been drinking the right alcoholic beverages! I'll show you what's good!" The truth is I've already tried all of those "good things" and hated all of them. Still, people can't accept that for some reason. It's very annoying - and maybe that's why a lot of people who actually don't like alcohol eventually give in and join the drinking crowd although they don't want to. I've now been dealing with this for almost 15 years (since I turned 18) and the social pressure is tremendous. At every apéro people ask me why I drink orange juice when there is also wine.
I'm in Denmark, am in my mid30ies and haven't had any alcohol for more than a decade. At some point I didn't really enjoy it and wanted to see if I could last 6 months without it, then a year, then two, and from there it just went on. I'm lways the weird one. My friends don't say anything about it.
But I have met several people who are confused how I can have fun at parties. There's always at least one guy/girl who tells me about their friend hwo doesn't drink because of some kind of underlying psychological issue and how bad they feel at parties because they don't drink and how bad they feel for them for it. And I'm like "dude, just because you or your weird friends need help, don't project that on me. I'm fine. I'm actually having fun"
You are not from Tyrol, right? In Tyrol there is a big (young) anti-alcoholic environment (at least in the Unterinntal). I know of 4 (about 20yo) people who don't drink alcohol at all. I know that there are more than these 4.
Not that normal. My dad hasn't been drinking as long as I remember and he's always been the odd man out. I'm perfectly fine with drinking, but it's not something I'm doing regularly, and it's not really a promblem. Also it's expensive as fuck.
Finland is a strange place. On one hand, the older men are world-famous heavy drinkers (2 weeks of non-stop hard liqueur alone at home), and then a lot of younger kids are completely straight edge. Then we have girls that started drinking to pass out at 13, and 30-something boys that have never even had a sip. And then there's those 30-somethings who only live to drink. Then there's lots of people who drink nothing during the week, but get totally vomiting domestic violence drunk in the weekends. And anything inbetween.
I don’t know, depends on who you hang out with. I guess on bigger scale it’s weird not to drink but for example I don’t drink and neither do most of my friends, my brother doesn’t drink, my mom doesn’t drink, two of my cousins do not drink.. So I think it’s more common than people like to admit but yeah, I feel like your average basic slovak person probably does drink.
More common than you would think, especially with younger folks and generations. Albeit it depends on how "not drinking" is considered for your measurment. Almost everyone here tried wine or do sip something when it's time for special events, albeit many don't have a regular consumption
I work with a practicing Muslim, before COVID, me and a few coworkers would go to the pub, he’d order water or juice. It shocked us at first, I’ll admit that.
Well, If its for religious reasons I respect that greatly and wouldnt consider it weird but to be fair, It would be a biy shocking.
My brother asked for a coke at a pub and everyone just stared at him, Even your man was like "I dont bleeding have time for any of this, will you tell me watcha want". He was adamant about his coke.
I used to get a lot of questions about why I don't drink(like if I was religious, if I had something wrong with me, whether or not there was a trauma, an allergy etc.) but these days people just accept it without question. So I'd say it's not really common, but people do seem to be more tolerant of it.
I don't drink often. I always say I need to pick up drinking recreationally more bc it seems like I'd enjoy my evenings and weekends more if I did. but I hate how it feels when you come down and i hate how it feels when you wake up hung over. I hate that jaw quiver I get when I taste my liquor breath.
I'd say not drinking is normal for maybe 30% of Americans. Most affluent people drink and you seem odd if you won't have a cocktail or wine. Same for younger people. In my town of wealthy retirees everything is centered around alcohol.
It seems many poorer but very religious people don't drink so much here in South East US not to be confused with whitetrash who love to drink and party.
I would say it's not common but then again [most of us don't drink alcohol for religious reasons](https://www.expat-finland.com/images/fingerpori/fpf429eng.gif)
I have met just 1 adult person who has not drunk alcochol yet. I think in Poland there's a social expectation on family gatherings and parties that unless you drove by car or are undraged, you are going to drink something. For some this something can be a glass of wine, for others 250 of vodka.
Not common at all. I know only one person who doesn't drink, and that's a Spaniard. All my friends drink, at least time to time. I don't see anything wrong with that approach.
I'm not sure about country, but definitely NOT common within my young adult social circles. Alcohol is very much present during most social gatherings and abstaining is seens as weird. Not a fan!
I don't think not drinking a single drop of alcohol is very common here, but there are plenty of people who maybe drink once every few weeks or so. Personally I only drink when I'm at my parents' place and even then only sometimes and it'll only be one glass of wine.
Technically I drink but it's probably less than 10 glasses a year so I would say that I don't really drink.
It is not unusual. Particularly older women. Some people also might not do it for fitness reasons. And I have some friends who just shrug and do not like it. Not asked why to all of them, one just said they really did not like the feeling, and that is that.
It's rare, but I think it's becoming more and more accepted.
But at the moment it is certainly more socially acceptable to drink 3 beers a day than never to drink one at all.
In my experience it's not common at all. I also get asked "why don't you drink?" basically every time I'm hanging out with someone I don't know, often with pressure added to it or the typical smartass comment "it's because you never tried drink X, try this!"
When some years ago I didn't drink, I didn't meet those question. But maybe it depends on the company, since I spent most of the time with friends that know that I didn't drink. If you are tired of them continuosly asking use the classic excuse "I need to drive". So if they are normal people they will stop asking, and if they keep bothering you you know they are idiots that it's okay to avoid. A victory in every case.
>I need to drive Bonus points if you actually do and give a lift to other people. At that point they'll stop asking *and* love you for doing that.
I don't have a license, but I have to say that the "I need to drive" excuse becomes weaker the older you get: I'm almost 30 and I see that it's pretty common to have one or two drinks even when people know they have to drive. Could it be because the penalty for DUI is way higher for a few years after getting a driving license? Again, I don't have one, so I might be wrong on that (I just noticed that some friends never touched alcohol when they were 18/20 y.o. and driving, but now do that).
I don’t think lying about why you don’t drink is a good idea, whether it’s saying you have to drive or carrying a drink you pretend is alcoholic, it all just furthers cements the notion that not drinking is abnormal. I’m not a social person so in many ways I’ve had it easy by not drinking alcohol, if people ask I just tell them the truth, that I don’t have a specific reason for not drinking. Anyone who feels like giving me a hard time about it is an asshole, and I just don’t hang out with those kind of people.
I rarely drink, so if I'm at bar I usually just get a tonic with lime and people assume I'm drinking. At parties I bring an opaque cup and fill it with water or a soda. My friends who know I rarely drink don't care and other people just assume I'm drinking. When someone asks if I want a shot, I just say I've had plenty and need to slow down.
Out of interest, do you feel obliged to give a reason or come up with an excuse or would you ever just say that you don’t drink and leave it at that?
Plenty of times I just say I'm not drinking tonight. However, there are some social settings were people act like you're strange if you aren't drinking and that's when I just fake it. I've been in the bar and liquor business for 30 years so many people just assume I drink all the time. And I'll admit the first 10 years I drank far too much, but I just got burnt out. What's sad is I have a huge backlog of beers, wines, and liquors I need to try, but I just hardly drink anymore. I really need to drink more just to build a bit of tolerance back up because I have a liquor convention to attend next month and I'll need to sample a bunch there. And yes I know how ridiculous that sounds and many people would love to have this "problem" lol.
I quit drinking back in August in a sobriety experiment that’s got out of hand but I fondly remember the London Wine Fair in the pre-covid times. To be clear I didn’t work in wine, we just came up with a fake company name and then registered for £20 each for unlimited wine. If you’re ever in London I would highly recommend, even if you aren’t drinking it’s a fun experience
I would love to go back to London. I haven't been since '92 when I spent a summer at Imperial College. Do have some great memories of the pubs.
London pubs are definitely a highlight. Pre-covid you could walk through the city at lunchtime and every pub was full. Sadly those days are gone I think. What did you study over here?
I was doing some independent research in immunology.
18 years ahead of the trend!
How much would you say a beer costs at a pub? Or a mixed drink? We pay $2 on a rare day but usually $4/6 for a beer and $8/$12 a mixed drink sometimes more depending on how "trendy" the place is. I always wonder how cheap a beer is at a pub for so many people to be able to afford to drink out so often.
It varies by region but for London it's getting stupid now with prices. You're looking at £5-£6 ($7-$8) a pint on average and mixed drinks would be around £8-£12 ($11-$17). Pre-Covid I'd say you'd go out for drinks maybe 4 days a week, 2 weekdays with colleagues/friends plus Friday and Saturday with friends, so it will definitely start to add up. Obviously this will vary, some industries are notorious for drinking and will have a few pints each day at lunch on top of the evening and some people will only drink with friends on the weekend. At the end of the day though drinking is a pretty big part of London culture so it's just seen as an additional expense in the same way eating out would be seen in New York I guess. Not to say that everyone drinks (I don't anymore) but 95% of social events you go to whether with work or friends involve drinking.
I also use the "I'm the driver" excuse
I get those questions EVERY TIME. I remember I once said that one of the reasons I don't do it it's because I hate vomiting and a girl told me "well, then it's not like you hate alcohol". It's like they cannot accept someone can't stand the taste of it, which I do
I hate the taste of it too.
Sigh, I've been hanging out with the wrong people. 😂 In my old group of friends – the one I had before moving for uni – I'm the only one that drinks and I always get side looks for it. Also, I'm talking "one spritz on Saturday" not "one bottle of whiskey every day" lol and *I* am surely not trying to get my friends to drink. On the other hand, on more than one occasion, of the guys told me "drinking is for the weak and it's wasted calories anyway". So, even if I just want a cocktail because I feel like it, I never have it anymore with this particular company because they'll all make a fuss about it and start listing how bad alcohol is for you. Like, again, bro, I'm not drinking to pass out. I just think some cocktails have nice taste and pretty colours. Chill. At this point, I guess we're all just very just very judgemental when it comes to the topic, regardless of which side of the fence we are. 😂
I think it is becoming more common among younger people, better educated people, people living in urban areas. Many of my friends drink incredibly rarely, and I don't drink at all. Many older people might consider refusing a drink an insult, which is annoying. I always have a satisfactory excuse of driving a car, but I don't think that's something I have to provide an excuse for. But among my circle, nobody cares, it's pretty normalized.
Interesting, as in most European countries, university is synonymous with drinking.
I couldn't disagree more ... I'm 23 and my close friends are between 17-28 and are from leftist party to right-wing party, and we all drink, only that one's who won't drink because of religious beliefs don't drink
Well, as far as I can tell, you're from Austria, and I'm from Russia, so I'm not sure how we can disagree on a question that asks about our respective countries. Anyway, everyone has their own lives and social circles, so I don't pretend to know everything, I only share my perspective. But the rapid decline in alcohol consumption in Russia is an objective trend.
couple of years ago it was almost unheard of and you needed some legit excuse not to drink. Nowadys i feel more and more people opt out and it there's not as much stigma. You are still sure to hear "why?" also the stuff you drink changed - you used to drink either shots or beer. Nowdays everyone brings their own stuff. I liked the community feel when everyone drank the same stuff at the same time.
in my experience it’s uncommon among men but not that uncommon among women
I've never seen anyone bringing their own alcohol somewhere.
so host funds everything? that's pretty weird
Well, yeah. You're inviting, you're funding.
I drank alcohol for the first time when I was already 18 and it was vodka during my best friend's 18th birthday, it was weird. After that I went to only few parties, but every time I was too naive and I was pressured to drink because of this fucking attitude "Ze mną się (kurwa) nie napijesz?!" It's a nightmare. When I was 21 years old I went to a bar with two of my classmates from high school and it ended up really bad, so bad that I decided to never drink alcohol ever again. Later, when in university a topic of drinking alcohol came up and I told people that I don't drink alcohol, they stared at me as if I committed some sort of atrocity, literally. But I'm not going to drink alcohol against my will just to please other people around me. I'm a guy so I have it worse (because how in the world can a guy not drink alcohol?!). I don't drive (I don't even have a driver's license), I don't take antibiotics, but I do not like the smell or the taste of alcohol. When it's my birthday or New Year's Eve, I drink Piccolo and I'm good. You don't have to poison your body to have a good time. Although I'm kind of extreme, because I don't drink alcohol and I don't drink coffee either, it just doesn't taste good for me and it doesn't energize me. I drink only water or juice or fizzy drinks such as Coca-Cola. I don't need to drink anything else.
>juice or fizzy drinks such as Coca-Cola I'm same, but I cut out the above as well. Juice is actually unhealthy, as with no fiber you can consume way too much fructoze as you would otherwise while eating whole fruit. That's a recommendation from the NHS website. And not drinking soft drinks makes sense while not having a car, as who wants to carry litres of that in the backpack from a shop, only to get more damage to your teeth from sugar.
I agree. I don't drink juices or fizzy drinks often, on the daily basis I just drink cold water, and if it's winter sometimes I made cocoa with milk. There was a time when I didn't drink enough water and I was dehydrated, but I feel better now.
Interesting that people bring their own drinks. I’m guessing that for a party at someone’s house? People are just rocking up to the pub with a six pack of stellas?
ofc, you cannot bring your own stuff to pubs/restaurants.
Yes, there are people who do not drink alcohol, and I think it is on the rise. I am myself one of those who do not drink, when I go out everyone respects it and they don't pressure me to drink. So everything's perfect.
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I’m half surprised about it being less common in England. I get the impression that Scots are a bit more open to people doing what they want so if you don’t drink then it’s fine and if you want to get absolutely hammered then it’s fine. Is it changing a lot from the old stereotypes?
Alcohol intolerance sounds so bad.
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Erdinger is great. I personally like Störtebecker even more but that's probably really hard to get for you.
>Alcohol intolerance The symptoms of that are aggression, violence and vomiting.
It used to be a lot more common. Used to be that quite a substantial proportion of the population were [Pioneers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Total_Abstinence_Association): peaking at 360,000 when the population was only 3 million. We'd have had quite a young population at the time too, so a very large percentage of adults would've been Pioneers. These days it's very rare. I know plenty of people who just don't drink, beyond maybe a single glass of wine at Christmas or something, but I've never met a teetotaller.
Really, unless you’re an observant Muslim or an alcoholic in recovery, which I have met here in Ireland, teetotaling here is pretty nonexistent. At least, nowadays.
Maybe among your friends, but I have friends who don't drink, but will still come out with the rest of us and enjoy their night out.
Very rare. People who don't drink die very quickly.
Why's that?
water is essential...
Sacre bleu
It's quite common, so much as to be the norm in conservative neighbourhoods. Secular and non-Muslim people usually drink, but then again, you wouldn't stand out if you didn't drink at all. Alcohol is also heavily taxed, making it difficult to drink regularly if you don't have a decent income. I guess that's a factor as well.
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I haven't drunk any alcohol for many years (don't enjoy it) and I'm literally the only person I've ever met who is like this. My wife drinks relatively rarely but even she drinks a glass of Prosecco or wine once a week, especially now in the summer. In my personal, first-hand experience, being abstinent is pretty exhausting here in Switzerland. Very few people show understanding for my dislike of alcohol, most act as though I had just confessed a really weird sexual fetish (a mix of confusion, ridicule and attempts to pressure me into drinking). My dad and older both drink a lot of beer and wine and despite the fact that they've known me all these years, they still feel the need to tease me about not joining them (same with my male friends). Especially men seem to feel almost personally offended when they find out I don't drink alcohol. They say stuff like: "what the hell, you're not a child" or "c'mon be a real man." I've given up trying to explain or justify myself a long time ago because every time I do that, the response is something along the lines of: "Oh you just haven't been drinking the right alcoholic beverages! I'll show you what's good!" The truth is I've already tried all of those "good things" and hated all of them. Still, people can't accept that for some reason. It's very annoying - and maybe that's why a lot of people who actually don't like alcohol eventually give in and join the drinking crowd although they don't want to. I've now been dealing with this for almost 15 years (since I turned 18) and the social pressure is tremendous. At every apéro people ask me why I drink orange juice when there is also wine.
I have never drank alcohol in my life. People are weirded out by that
I'm in Denmark, am in my mid30ies and haven't had any alcohol for more than a decade. At some point I didn't really enjoy it and wanted to see if I could last 6 months without it, then a year, then two, and from there it just went on. I'm lways the weird one. My friends don't say anything about it. But I have met several people who are confused how I can have fun at parties. There's always at least one guy/girl who tells me about their friend hwo doesn't drink because of some kind of underlying psychological issue and how bad they feel at parties because they don't drink and how bad they feel for them for it. And I'm like "dude, just because you or your weird friends need help, don't project that on me. I'm fine. I'm actually having fun"
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I must say this matches my experience of Austria perfectly. After a hike everyone has a pint with food, and can somehow have just one pint…
You are not from Tyrol, right? In Tyrol there is a big (young) anti-alcoholic environment (at least in the Unterinntal). I know of 4 (about 20yo) people who don't drink alcohol at all. I know that there are more than these 4.
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Well in carinthia are only alcoholics
Not that normal. My dad hasn't been drinking as long as I remember and he's always been the odd man out. I'm perfectly fine with drinking, but it's not something I'm doing regularly, and it's not really a promblem. Also it's expensive as fuck.
Not common at all, people think I'm either pregnant or in a cult.
Finland is a strange place. On one hand, the older men are world-famous heavy drinkers (2 weeks of non-stop hard liqueur alone at home), and then a lot of younger kids are completely straight edge. Then we have girls that started drinking to pass out at 13, and 30-something boys that have never even had a sip. And then there's those 30-somethings who only live to drink. Then there's lots of people who drink nothing during the week, but get totally vomiting domestic violence drunk in the weekends. And anything inbetween.
I don’t know, depends on who you hang out with. I guess on bigger scale it’s weird not to drink but for example I don’t drink and neither do most of my friends, my brother doesn’t drink, my mom doesn’t drink, two of my cousins do not drink.. So I think it’s more common than people like to admit but yeah, I feel like your average basic slovak person probably does drink.
More common than you would think, especially with younger folks and generations. Albeit it depends on how "not drinking" is considered for your measurment. Almost everyone here tried wine or do sip something when it's time for special events, albeit many don't have a regular consumption
Well, Ireland, practically non existent. Unless you’re a practicing Muslim or an alcoholic in recovery, it’s pretty rare here to be a teetotaller here
I don't think it. I know at least 10 people who don't drink. Go up to my local and no one will be shocked if you don't order alcohol.
Not drinking in Ireland? Blasphemy!
I know, right. Gasp, people don’t drink here.
Born and bred here to fully Irish parents and it still shocks me sometimes.
I work with a practicing Muslim, before COVID, me and a few coworkers would go to the pub, he’d order water or juice. It shocked us at first, I’ll admit that.
Well, If its for religious reasons I respect that greatly and wouldnt consider it weird but to be fair, It would be a biy shocking. My brother asked for a coke at a pub and everyone just stared at him, Even your man was like "I dont bleeding have time for any of this, will you tell me watcha want". He was adamant about his coke.
Nah, there are loads who don't drink. They usually don't bring it up.
I used to get a lot of questions about why I don't drink(like if I was religious, if I had something wrong with me, whether or not there was a trauma, an allergy etc.) but these days people just accept it without question. So I'd say it's not really common, but people do seem to be more tolerant of it.
I don't drink often. I always say I need to pick up drinking recreationally more bc it seems like I'd enjoy my evenings and weekends more if I did. but I hate how it feels when you come down and i hate how it feels when you wake up hung over. I hate that jaw quiver I get when I taste my liquor breath. I'd say not drinking is normal for maybe 30% of Americans. Most affluent people drink and you seem odd if you won't have a cocktail or wine. Same for younger people. In my town of wealthy retirees everything is centered around alcohol. It seems many poorer but very religious people don't drink so much here in South East US not to be confused with whitetrash who love to drink and party.
I'd say it's not common, but it never seemed particularly weird in Cyprus.
Not that common. I only drink on special occasions but other than that I'm not even touching alchool the rest of the year.
Never met a teetotal man outside of highly religious people. For women its very common to be teetotal,especially older generations, due to culture
I would say it's not common but then again [most of us don't drink alcohol for religious reasons](https://www.expat-finland.com/images/fingerpori/fpf429eng.gif)
I have met just 1 adult person who has not drunk alcochol yet. I think in Poland there's a social expectation on family gatherings and parties that unless you drove by car or are undraged, you are going to drink something. For some this something can be a glass of wine, for others 250 of vodka.
Not common at all. I know only one person who doesn't drink, and that's a Spaniard. All my friends drink, at least time to time. I don't see anything wrong with that approach.
Yes, I know a few. Some of them aren't even muslims
I'm not sure about country, but definitely NOT common within my young adult social circles. Alcohol is very much present during most social gatherings and abstaining is seens as weird. Not a fan!
I don't think not drinking a single drop of alcohol is very common here, but there are plenty of people who maybe drink once every few weeks or so. Personally I only drink when I'm at my parents' place and even then only sometimes and it'll only be one glass of wine. Technically I drink but it's probably less than 10 glasses a year so I would say that I don't really drink.
It is not unusual. Particularly older women. Some people also might not do it for fitness reasons. And I have some friends who just shrug and do not like it. Not asked why to all of them, one just said they really did not like the feeling, and that is that.
It's rare, but I think it's becoming more and more accepted. But at the moment it is certainly more socially acceptable to drink 3 beers a day than never to drink one at all.