You know, I don't think I've ever got any shit from anyone for not drinking. Actually that's not true. There was one guy once at a party who tried to give me shit 'Oh no, what? You're not drinking? I told everyone how fun you are to party with!' he slurred from his slumped position on a chair.
I just laughed and thought to myself 'dude, this is your issue, I'm still having fun' and proceeded to dance the night away while he kept sneaking around the back of the venue to get stoned. Who's having fun really?
Aside from him (and he is a nice guy really, just trapped in a mindset of 'must get wasted to have fun') in 947 days of being sober (just checked - whoop!) I haven't been hassled by anyone because I've quit booze or been pressured by anyone to have a drink. Not even friends and family who still drink steadily and regularly give me shit. They just do their thing and I do mine. We co-exist. It's all good.
There's a lot of talk in this country about our dreadful drinking culture yet I now move around this country as a sober person and it's not the end of the world. It's totally do-able. I'm not ostracized or shunned. Would I be getting loads more party invitations if I was still boozing? I don't think so. I still get invited places. Hopefully people don't leave me off the guest list because of my new lifestyle ("don't invite boring Mrs D - she doesn't drink any more you know"). Frankly if anyone was to think that I probably don't want to be at their event anyway. But I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen.
A long time alcohol counsellor told me recently that he hears from a lot of callers to their hotline that they get shit from friends and co-workers about not drinking. That sucks. If you get hassled, remember… it's their problem. We can choose if we want to make it ours or not.
Maybe things are slowly changing here regarding drinking. Three stories in the media recently. This sports club that has banned all booze. Sales and sponsorship. "It's time for a change" the club boss says. Awesome! The police applying to radically change this event and it's boozy reputation. And special liquor licenses being denied for a holiday weekend in a resort town. This doesn't mean the weekend will fall flat! Booze being available doesn't have to be what makes the weekend fun (the local bars might have to take a bit of convincing on that one).
It always comes down to money. Booze sells, booze is a commodity.. it makes money for businesses large and small. But it messes with us. Alcohol related harm is ridiculously high. Something has to change. Slowly but steadily, one brave person at a time, we might see some change happening.
In the meantime I'm off to indulge myself for a few hours at the hair salon. Oh lucky sober housewife me.
Love, Mrs D xxx
