If you are teetotal.....

[Afternooninthepark]

Do you find that some drinkers can never respect your wishes and constantly try to ply you with alcohol?
I’ve been teetotal for many years mainly because I’m a complete lightweight and get drunk very, very quickly (half a glass of wine for me and I’m no use to man nor beast) but also because I have digestive issues and alcohol leaves me in discomfort but I don’t always want to explain that to people so just say I don’t drink.
You’d think people would leave it at that but they look at me like they just can not believe what I’ve just told them and I then get ‘Sorry???? You don’t drink anything? How boring!’ or ‘Oh come on, just one won’t hurt you!’
Last week I was at a party, sitting and chatting to someone when a woman I don’t know very well stuck a glass of wine under my nose. I politely declined. She frowned and asked ‘Why not?’, I replied ‘I don’t drink’. She laughed and said ‘Oh, come on it’s only one glass, here’ shoving it towards my hand. Grrr, why can’t people get it into their skulls that no everyone drinks alcohol.
It would be like offering a vegan/vegetarian some wafer thin ham because it’s not much meat!
Anyone else get this??
AIBU to just want to drink my drink without getting harassed over my decision that it’s a soft drink and not alcohol?

When my husband quit drinking for a few years my parents couldn't quite get to grips with it. They would offer repeatedly over an occasional, with my dad eventually saying things along the lines of "there's nothing wrong with a drink in moderation, if you have a problem with alcohol then obviously that's different" blah blah blah...every single time. Got very tiresome.

YNBU. I used to get this all the time. Teetotal-ness and being a pushover is a terrible combination. Sometimes, when I've had enough of declining/protesting, I just take the bloody, sodding glass and take a few sips and empty the rest into a nearby plant pot or the sink.

One day, a host forced a glass of wine on me (he looked like I had two heads when I refused the first couple of times), I had a sip and left the glass on the side, thinking he won't notice. But the fucker did. And told me off for 'wasting' his precious alcohol.

Oh it’s a pain....you say, I don’t drink, and people think you are odd... what never, oh go on 1 won’t hurt...grrrrrrrr

I never have an issue these days - just say no. not for me thanks but I will have a lemondade or whatever if you are getting something etc

I do drink - what I want when I want so good wine ie I like to know what its like before agreeing to buy - so if you get a taste - so pointless in a pub and I like a bitter shandy but as most drinks in pubs are not low sugar ie soft drinks generally I am a bit stuck with fizzy or plain water as I don't want sugary and i don't want caffeine - now that is annoying

That's disgraceful! What if you were a recovering alcoholic?! I don't care what people drink so long as they're happy, and when I host I always stock several soft alternatives. I love the taste of alcohol (but wouldn't drink around a RA or would make a drink last the duration) yet I understand there's a myriad of reasons why one wouldn't drink.
I can only advise a polite but firm 'no thank you, I'll have a x' and don't say 'just' as that's open to interpretation and questioning. Then quickly change the subject. I'm sorry people are so annoying.

I drink, but I've had alcohol-free friends for most of my adult life and am quite used to socialising in groups where some drink alcohol and some don't - and we are all mostly capable of leaving each other alone on the subject. If I am out with someone where there is a cash bar, I might offer them a drink but I will then get them whatever they asked for without raising either of my eyebrows - or asking them to justify themselves. My kid brother doesn't drink because of his epilepsy; I know a couple of recovering alcoholics, someone with a medical issue that means they can't have alcohol, one or two with religious reasons for abstinence, etc. In some cases I have no idea why the person doesn't want to drink alcohol but I don't consider it any of my business.

However, I have encountered one or two people who seem to be almost eager to be offered alcohol just so they can have a big rant about how awful it is that other people want to drink it, and will pounce on any opportunity to whine and moan about alcohol 'culture' and how much better they are than the people who do like to have a couple of pints. (One of the most fucking tiresome people I have ever met was a recovering alcoholic who could not only bore for Britain on the evils of booze, but reckoned he was even more superior because his idea of a good night out was to consume his own bodyweight in ketamine and MDMA, because those were more 'ethical' intoxicants...).

I think some teetotallers bring some of their social discomfort upon themselves, and I don't have much patience with those who whine about being excluded from some social occasions by people who would like to have a few drinks without Catsbumface sitting in the corner and disapproving.

I don't drink alcohol as I'm intolerant/allergic to it and I get an instant migraine if I drink it and have to take high strength painkillers and antihistamines. I find the concept of drinking alcohol weird as I see people change into different personas.

I don't drink, which was originally because I am a part of the Salvation Army, which due to historical reasons doesn't drink (rehabbed alcoholics back in the late 1800s). Now I'm older, it is a personal choice.

People tend to respect me not drinking and I've never been bugged about it. I do have friends who drink and spend time in situations involving alcohol, but it's been okay.

Same with coeliac disease... no, bread and pasta won’t kill me, but I will be on the toilet with diarrhea wanting to die pretty damn quick.

I don't drink but used to before i had my kids. It's the endless probing of why you don't drink anymore that annoys me. I don't understand why people can't just accept it.

I'm teetotal pretty much, may have the odd one very, very rarely although would be much happier with a soft drink. I'm a man which I think is even harder as drinking is a very 'blokey' thing. Constantly being asked is the thing that annoys me the most, people just won't accept it. Even family members who know I don't drink will always try to get me to 'have just one'.

I really don't understand what people's problem is as you wouldn't force food down someone's throat if they said they're on a diet or don't like something. If anyone made a comment that I must be boring I'd just say well don't interact with me if you think that, then I wouldn't have to constantly tell them I don't want a drink.

YANBU, this is so annoying! I don’t drink as I’m Muslim and I always have people shoving alcohol under my nose at events and parties etc with a loud ‘oh go on, nobody’s watching’ as though random people watching me is what’s most important

My doctor didn’t believe me when I said I didn’t drink. He refused to write down teetotal. He said I will put down u have one a week. I had to get cross with him. As I don’t drink and didn’t want him to put that in there. Why is it so hard for people to understand.
Mi don’t drink becuaee i have bladder problems. And only ever drink water. So many people insist on me trying. Oh go on. One won’t hurt. Well. Yes it will and it will cause me pain and make me spend the next 12 hours in the bathroom. Why do people think they know your body better than I do. Idiots.

That;s terrible about the doctor. It would not happen around here as we have a good few religions where people don't drink so it it could be discriminatory to refuse to mention someone does not drink.

A slight tangent on the discussion but really bothering me! Do you find you don’t go out because you don’t drink? I used to be the life and soul; always last to leave, etc. Stopped drinking as since I had kids I have an autoimmune condition and alcohol flares it up so I’m in pain for weeks, as does gluten, sugar, egg etc so eating out is hard too. I feel like I’ve gone from being fun, go with the flow, to the teetotal health freak person. So I find I don’t like eating out as I’m generally in pain afterwards and nervous what will be on the menu, feel awkward as the whats app chats are always about the booze involved, cozy bottle of red, boozy fun night etc etc, so I feel just like I already am kind of outside the booze part of the gathering, it’s really hard to explain! I actually feel just as chatty as when I drank & the rare occasion we go somewhere with a dance floor I am happy to be the first on the dance floor- I think people find that strange when you’re not drinking! But yet I find I’m mostly not invited to stuff since not drinking, which I feel a bit sad about, but when I am I feel like I worry about the food and being out of the booze scene and feel like I’d rather curl up with a book, save the time and meet a friend for coffee or go for a country walk with my daughters / a friend / hubby / do something on my never ending to do list. Am I really boring?! Should I force myself to go out and not be so boring. Help!