to think there's nothing wrong with being teetotal?

[ShowOfHands]

DH and I don't drink. We're not evangelical or derisive of people who do. I just never started and DH used to as a teen but gave it up 17yrs ago.

DH is on a stag weekend right now and the majority of men there are completely indifferent with regards to who drinks what and why. A couple of them however, seemed to mishear DH when he said he was teetotal and presumably, what they heard is "I'm from Planet Zog and I will actually be dipping my tumescent cock in my beverage and sucking it up that way". You'd think so anyway from their ashen faces, incredulity and on two occasions, the downright refusal to buy him "a bloody coke" and then proceeding to plonk a pint in front of him instead.

They keep going on about how it's like having a maiden aunt along and last night one of them threatened to spike his drink.

Ironically, their insistence that DH needs "a good stuff drink inside them" (yeah I could psychoanalyse the shit out of that tbh) is 673% duller than DH not imbibing their alcoholic offerings in the first place.

On a slightly serious note - I know, it's AIBU and not home of the serious - DH is quite sensitive and I know it makes him feel like he doesn't belong. The groom and most of the other blokes don't care but I know DH and I know he'll come home and play the comments over in his head. And that's ridiculous. It's bullying.

Why does this still happen?

limitedperiodonly cool - good on you for completely disregarding the second para of my post just to keep harping on about cultural equality. So for the third time - i was not saying my culture is better than yours or for that matter, anyone else's*.

I enjoy myself more if I don't drink. I like a clear head and really don't like the fuggy heavy feeling of drinking too much. I am just as merry as anyone else if I'm at a party.

I like the humble tuna baguette from Pret Annie. It's nice bread but the cucumber is sliced too thickly so I pick it out and worry that other people are judging me. I must get over that.

I like cucumber but it has to be finely sliced in sandwiches. I like it chunky in a Greek-style salad but whatever the thickness, I insist on the seeds being removed because they make everything too watery. Same with tomatoes.

It was me who mentioned chocolate addiction. DH's annoys me but he is currently blameless because he has given me an obscenely expensive leather jacket by Malo. It's yellow, this season's colour, and is lined with cashmere.

I know that he bought it for himself on eBay and didn't realise it was too small. But if I let him eat the last of the chocolate ice cream tonight, we won't bring that up. That's how our marriage works.

I don't like chocolate ice cream and will be wearing the jacket tomorrow btw

In what culture is it acceptable to drink to excess theclick?

I'm not even going to go there with heathen cultures who think it's okay to leave seeds in cucumber or tomato.

It's pretty acceptable in Scotland (where I live) limited. There's a long running gag about it on the (brilliant) Scottish comedy show, Chewin' the Fat - someone says they're not drinking and people jovially start saying 'take a drink' but it quickly turns nasty and even violent when the person refuses

In all honesty, though, if I walk down Sauchiehall St (big street in Glasgow city centre) on a Saturday, everything's is geared towards getting people as drunk as possible. That part of the street is like wasteland during the day, it's sad. Businesses there pack up after a few months, usually. I find that people by and large are perfectly understanding when I say no to a drink but there's often one who eyes me like I should be certified or hanged for ruining the fun.

Comparatively, I do notice that in cities like Barcelona, Paris, Rome, you just don't see young people off their faces on drink. I don't know, maybe they're all at it indoors but my French pals find the idea of drinking with the sole purpose of getting paralytic pretty grotty and not cool.

Ah, that's symbiosis, that is The jacket sounds superb.

I don't mind cucumber being thickly sliced as long as it is sliced. DS4 eats whole cucumbers, munches them like long thin apples (yes, seeds and all). Sometimes he eats a whole one at a sitting. The ways of modern youth are strange. Cheaper and no doubt healthier than booze and fags though.

By the way, that chicken caesar sandwich from Pret - be still my beating heart. Best sanny on earth.