Dan: Why don't you drink? (A.K.A. The Not-Drinking Thread)

[crzy8sal]

Dan's mentioned on the show several times now that he doesn't drink. I've been very curious as to "Why?" Also, have you never tried it?

I know many of us have said "I'm never drinking again!" after a particularly bad hangover, but the majority of us never actually do. About two weeks ago I had one of such nights, though luckily I didn't do anything too embarrassing, and I've been thinking "Why don't I ACTUALLY quit?". I mean, why do people drink? Is it cause they can't have fun otherwise? Is it cause they want to do things subconsciously that they'd be too embarrassed to do sober? Or just cause they like the taste of some alcoholic beverages, and if that's the reason: is it because they sincerely just like the taste, or is it because they happen to be (slightly) addicted to alcohol?

Now, I wouldn't ever call myself an alcoholic, I've always just drank one day in the weekend, never two, and during the week maybe once or twice a week just a single beer after dinner. Also, in the weekend I would sometimes get drink, but other weekends I would only have 3 or 4 drinks.

However lately I've been wondering why I actually do it. I mean, it's bad for you physically, and you can sometimes do some pretty stupid things you regret, so is it really worth it? I haven't had a drink in like two weeks, and actually I really miss it, especially when other people are drinking it really makes me want to get a beer too.

I'm just torn between if drinking is "bad" or not. Of course there's a distinction between people who drink in moderation and people who are alcoholics. I've known both types of people in my life. One part of me keeps thinking: life is short, just enjoy yourself, if you wanna have a beer, have a beer! And sure every once in a while you might get drunk, but it's OK, it's socially accepted. The other part keeps thinking: why do you need to drink anyway? Is it that hard to just have fun without being impaired?

I also find it interesting how alcohol is socially accepted. Especially since it's technically a hard drug (I think). I mean, if someone gets wasted and then does something stupid, say hurt someone they love, often times a simple "I'm really sorry, I was so drunk yesterday" will suffice and the other person will forgive and forget relatively easily. If you did the same thing sober, it would've been a lot more serious. Or even if you're under the influence of another drug, say, cocaine, then it'll still be way worse than when you say it under the influence of alcohol. So, why do we accept alcohol but not most other drugs? Alcohol isn't the least worse of the lot... Perhaps it's because it's so easy to make tasty drinks with them, and you don't have to snort it or smoke it.

Either way, this thread is getting quite long. I've just been thinking about this a lot lately, figuring out if I want to stop drinking or not, I'm finding it hard to decide cause there's pros and cons to both sides. So I'm throwing it out there, what are your opinions on drinking/not drinking? And to bring it back to the topic title, the person who inspired me to even think about this at all: Dan, why don't you drink?

(Because Dan is the only person I "know" (well, you know ) that chooses not to drink, which I find fascinating)