I Don’t Want To Drink. Why Is That Such A Bad Thing?
In college I knocked ’em back. Thursday nights meant hanging out at the bar, and waking up so hungover on Friday I didn’t make it to any of my morning classes.
Who am I kidding? I didn’t even have any morning classes.
But now. Now I am a mom, and I work a lot and I have responsibilities and chores, and… well, I am just going to say it…
I don’t like drinking. I don’t care if everyone I am hanging out with is drinking, and I don’t even care if you get white girl wasted on a Tuesday afternoon, but I don’t want to drink
But that makes me SO WEIRD. In these times of moms who wine while their kids play and friends who get toasty over a craft project on a Friday evening as their wild night out, me– someone who doesn’t want to drink is the weirdo.
Why does this make me the weirdo? Why is it not okay that I want to come to the party, and I want to hang out at the wild night, but I just don’t want to have a glass of wine while I do it.
When I turn down a glass, it’s weird every time. Why do I have to feel like there is something wrong with me because I don’t want imbibe?
I know it’s coming, and I know it’s going to be cringey at best.
My super cute friend will ask, “Wine? Girl you know you want to.”
Hnnng. I don’t. I so don’t.
So, it goes one of two ways… either I drink the wine, and hope that nobody notices I am not drinking it very fast.
This hardly ever goes unnoticed by the way.
Someone is always going to say, “You need to finish that,” or “Catch up! You are so behind!”
OR I just outright deny the drink. “No, thanks.” And if everything we learned from D.A.R.E. classes was true then that should be that, right?
But it never is.
I always get the look, the snub, and then I am the one that they say things like, “Oh SHE doesn’t drink.” Or “Why not?”
OR… and this one is my favorite… “Are you pregnant?”
I mean, honestly, is it any of anybody’s business why I don’t want to drink? The truth is, I don’t drink because I don’t want to drink, but what if I had some real, personal reason that I didn’t want to get into? Isn’t that my right?
I am over it. I don’t want to drink and I shouldn’t have to stand up for myself for that right.
Water anyone?
