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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be pissed off with gift?

56 replies

IDONTDRINK · 01/06/2023 19:32

I don't drink, never have (except as a teen). It's not for any other reason than I don't like the taste or the effect it has on me. No big deal.

My friends and family are aware that I don't drink yet one of them insists on buying me alcohol for every occasion. It's my birthday today and I received a bottle of prosecco?! WHY???

You wouldn't offer a non-smoker a cigarette or cook a vegetarian a steak dinner so why is this any different?

OP posts:
SteveBuscemisRheumyEye · 01/06/2023 19:34

It's a thoughtless gift, for sure

SteveBuscemisRheumyEye · 01/06/2023 19:34

And happy birthday!

CleanCar · 01/06/2023 19:34

Give it back to them and say thanks but i dont drink.

i dont drink either and also get this. I think people do this as thoughtless gifts. Its just a go to gift. So annoying

Blondey2023 · 01/06/2023 19:36

It's like it socially frowned upon not to drink isn't it, I don't really drink and people think it's weird and pressure me to do so 🙄

Regift the prosecco!

BreathesOutSlowly · 01/06/2023 19:36

I drink but not Prosecco. It is very cheap and nasty and tastes like wee. You can always regift decent booze although it smacks of lazy buying to get you alcohol since you don't drink it.

Blip · 01/06/2023 19:36

Ask your friend. Say "I'm confused as to why you keep buying me alcohol as a birthday present when you know that I don't drink. What's this about?"

KarmaStar · 01/06/2023 19:38

Yanbu that's so weird!. Would have to say to them " thank you so much,as you know I don't drink so I won't be able to enjoy this". Once,from a stranger would warrant polite thanks and regifting but someone doing it repeatedly brings it to the stage where you can be more open.🌻🌻🌻HAPPY 🎂BIRTHDAY 🌻🌻🌻

ADHDDDDDDDBOOM · 01/06/2023 19:38

Yeah that's lazy wanker territory

TomatoSandwiches · 01/06/2023 19:38

YANBU and prosecco is swill, you can't even use it in cooking.

GOODCAT · 01/06/2023 19:43

That is rubbish. I also don't drink and had a boss who bought me champagne every year for years. Every year I gave it to whoever was nearest. In the end I was asked what another colleague who is also teetotal wanted by his secretary.

I said anything but something alcoholic and then said also don't buy it for x, y and z either because they also don't drink alcohol. I didn't mention me, but the penny then dropped and I stopped getting any gift from him!

CreamTeaThievery · 01/06/2023 19:49

I get something alcohol related every year from my boss, I very very rarely drink, maybe once a year, and never Prosecco!

Surgarblossom · 01/06/2023 19:54

I think that they have regifted it, something they have received and don't want.

HatchetJob · 01/06/2023 19:56

DH gets this all the time. Bottles of champagne from work etc. they could at least make it a bottle of red for me!

HoIIy · 01/06/2023 20:23

Can I be considered please 🤣

Greenpolkadot · 01/06/2023 20:26

I don't drink either but a friend gives a bottle of her home made sloe gin every year

I use to soak fruit in before a make a cake

phoenixrosehere · 01/06/2023 20:38

YANBU.

I’m a non-drinker too and even a few sips of a mixed drink gives me a headache, and sugary alcohols like cider give me bad stomach pains that last for hours yet someone from DH’a family somehow gifts me alcohol. I’ve not had any in almost 8 years. I think because DH drinks they just assume he gets it which is more annoying because the gift isn’t really for me then and even he doesn’t want it since it’s usually Prosecco or some type of super sweet mixed drink. I just leave it for someone else to take.

ChildrenOfTheQuorn · 01/06/2023 20:40

Pass it back on her birthday 🤷🏻‍♀️

drpet49 · 01/06/2023 20:42

Blip · 01/06/2023 19:36

Ask your friend. Say "I'm confused as to why you keep buying me alcohol as a birthday present when you know that I don't drink. What's this about?"

This. So thoughtless and rude.

Sparkletastic · 01/06/2023 20:42

'Thanks for the Prosecco but I don't drink'

SweetBirdsong · 01/06/2023 20:42

How rude. Re-gift it back to them.

My DH has been teetotal for ten years - TEN YEARS, and he still gets alcoholic wine or beer for gifts. It's like people can't accept it/don't like it that someone doesn't follow social norms/follow the herd and wants to NOT DRINK.

VariationsonaTheme · 01/06/2023 20:57

Accept it gracefully, like you would any other unwanted gift, and then re-gift it. It’s clearly a lazy and thoughtless gift, but so are many other things we’re given.

TheSnowyOwl · 01/06/2023 20:58

Do they dislike you and are being pa or are they completely thoughtless and you don’t mean anything important to them?

Sid077 · 01/06/2023 21:07

My sister did the same thing every year to my then husband who was also teetotal it told me everything I needed to know about our relationship.

StoneofDestiny · 01/06/2023 21:20

It's thoughtless and lazy - bang something into the trolley while you are supermarket shopping - hardly much of an effort.

C1N1C · 01/06/2023 21:30

I agree with the re-gift

OK, so it's not a direct present for you, but it's a tenner you don't have to spend for another.