My 21st birthday is coming up and when people find out, the first thing they always ask is, “What are you going to do?” Their excitement for a riveting, bar-hopping, shot-taking itinerary dies when I tell them my plans are to try to eat Chick-Fil-A for all three meals.
“What do you have against drinking?” they ask with a defensiveness in their voice. I have to explain that I don’t have anything against drinking, it’s just not my preference. I have then found myself to be called, but not limited to: prude, stuck up, boring, lame.
Since when did not wanting to drink confine me to these characteristic?
There’s a couple reasons why I don’t drink, and none of them include being a prude:
1. My parents don't drink
While I was growing up, neither of my parents drank alcohol. I’ve never seen them order a beer or a margarita when going out to dinner. I’ve never seen cans or bottles in our pantry or refrigerator. (Except this one time we did have a can of beer in our fridge and I totally freaked out, but my mom explained it was just to keep the slugs away from her flowers. FYI: This actually works.) So, going off of the whole “monkey see, monkey do” saying, I’ve never seen my parents drink, so I don’t have the desire to either. 2. Drinking doesn’t interest me.
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I don’t really have a drawn out explanation for this. It’s just a fact.
3. I am poor.
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I mean, have you looked at the prices of the drinks on a menu? There is no way my college student wallet could afford to even take a sip of a drink. If I’m not attracted to the idea of drinking, I’m not going to spend my money on a drink. I like to think of how many chicken nuggets I could buy with that money. Mmm.
4. My little sister knows facts.
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She wants to major in psychology, and she just recently took AP Psych in high school. She learned that the brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 25 and alcohol can certainly affect the progress of your brain. ( My lil sis is right , guys.) This fact basically haunts my everyday life decisions, so I consider it a valid reason for me not to drink.
5. None of my friends drink.
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I’m sure I have a few friends that have the occasional beer, but the people I hang out with on a day-to-day basis don’t really drink or “go out.” Maybe the situation would be different if my friends drank, but I guess I’ll never know.
I think what happens when people find out that drinking isn’t on my birthday (or life) schedule, they jump to conclusions and believe I’m looking down on them for choosing alcohol. Guess what? I’m not. I don’t think any less of a person because they enjoy a drink, nor do I think I’m above anyone who chooses this lifestyle. Drinking just isn’t my thing…unless you consider the large sweet tea I’m going to get with every single one of my Chick-Fil-A orders on my 21st.. TURN UP.
