To wonder why the young people don't enjoy drinking alcohol

You do realise you can go out without drinking alcohol or doing drugs?

Bars and restaurants (and even clubs!) sell plenty of soft drinks. You can even (gasp) do things that don't involve any of those things - like days out, shopping, hiking, going to the beach, going for coffee/cake...

Instead we have an epidemic of screen and sovisl media addicts....can't go anywhere without their phones

At least with alcohol it's over and done with in one hit

I drink whatever I fancy - coke, lemonade, sparkling water, fruit juice, mocktails?

I've never bought the idea that food needs to be "paired" with alcohol - it's just a (very successful) up-selling technique, lol. Like "flights of wine" etc.

My oldest doesn't drink. He can't comprehend how people knowingly put toxins into their bodies. He's very health conscious, goes to the gym and tracks diet etc, and is also horrified by smoking/vaping/drugs.

I suppose he's grown up around people who don't see the need to consume alcohol, so he's used to it. I don't drink and haven't since I was pregnant with him. His grandparents don't drink. He hasn't had that culture of needing alcohol to have fun or enjoy food.

We watched a documentary last night about how much alcohol related incidents cost the NHS and public services. Billions a year. It was extremely sobering (pun unintended) and actually made me feel quite angry. Vulnerable people are losing healthcare, social services, educational resources etc because of the amount of money being spent on alcohol related incidents. I wish it could be banned.

Is it???

They wouldn't need a drink if they socialised in person either. It's perfectly possible to socialise without alcohol in your hand.

This

Same things I drink all the time: water or squash.
If I'm out for a meal then maybe a fizzy drink or very occasionally a fancy mocktail.
But I don't think about what I'm eating 'pairing' with what I'm drinking, would never occur to me. Just drink what I fancy.

I don't get wine cos I think it tastes awful. But what I do like is coffee. Not for the caffeine hit, not to wake me up. But I love a good coffee in my nice mug, and find the whole routine of making it and sitting with it lovely. When I was pregnant I went off everything, including coffee.

I missed it more than anything else. I would have been happy for most food to not come back to me, as long as coffee did. Thankfully, the day after she came out, DH brought me a coffee just how I like it and it was wonderful.

So I can kinda understand why you would miss something that is about enjoying the taste or the routine.

But you did say that no alcohol was "no fun" so you can see why people have said you might have a problem if you need it for fun.

The ones who do go out like drugs more.

The ones who don’t are chronically online and don’t have a need to drink as they don’t socialise in person with anyone in person.

Lots of young people still drink but it's so expensive to go for a night out in a city, I don't think they can afford to do it as often as I did when I was young (5 nights a week)

It was you that said it was no fun not drinking…

(Come to mind because I've decided to go sober for a few weeks and it's NO FUN and I want to know their secret).

Huh?

You said yourself "I've decided to go sober for a few weeks and it's NO FUN".

So you clearly do relate it to fun?

Important to note that there are zero calories in a joint of weed/snort of coke/tablets.

But....alcohol is full of them.

I'm sure you can figure it out.

A little is most certainly not better than none! But congrats for trying to convince yourself.

But seriously, give it time, amazing benefits.

Yes I recently heard that. I feel lucky really that I just don’t like alcohol very much. I was out with a couple of friends recently for lunch, they shared a bottle of wine and I had a mocktail. I never feel
pressurised to drink. My sons don’t seem that bothered by alcohol at all but I know my eldest did party hard at Uni.

Also if you miss it that much it might be time to cut down tbh!

Personally a glass of wine with a meal is the height of civilisation, after welfare, sanitation, housing, and all that boring stuff no one really wants.

Drugs and social media are their life

I don't really drink - I maybe have 4-5 drinks a year. I'm 35.

I enjoy the taste but not how it makes me feel afterwards, so I save it for special occasions and when I know I can "write off" the following day. Even one/two drinks impacts my sleep and makes me feel rubbish.

I've never linked alcohol to fun so can't really relate to that.

Most of the teens I know are athletes and that's why they don't drink!

It's not really a fun Friday night after you've swam 12k on a Friday, done an hours gym and then are back for training at 6am Saturday morning 😂

The ones I know at uni that have been athletes don't drink much but I suppose it's because they never really did or continue training.

The few I know that drink enjoy indulging massively 😂🤦‍♀️

If you need alcohol go have fun then you’re drinking for the wrong reasons.

Don’t get me wrong I love a drink but I don’t need one to have fun.

Young people are much more health conscious these days.
Its also ridiculously expensive.

Even when I was young and drank a lot, I would binge on the weekend but I wouldn’t have it regularly like you do.

I definitely think having a regular drink with dinner or in the evening to relax, is more of an older person thing and always has been.

The programme I watched recently said the glass of red wine is good for you was just a marketing ploy (rather like breakfast is the most important meal of the day, which was a marketing ploy by Kellogg’s in their earlier days, and it stuck.

It’s always a bit concerning if someone thinks things aren’t fun without alcohol. It’s probably a good thing to be cutting down OP, it certainly won’t hurt.