“Why’d you quit drinking?”
Last week I was in Michigan for a work summit. Naturally this means a LOT of time spent with coworkers - including, but not limited to, lots of time in a conference room, after work activities, dinners, drinking until late at night. Now, clearly I don’t participate in some of these activities, outside of having water or a Shirley Temple (seriously so good).
The question always comes up as soon as people find out I don’t drink, “well why’d you quit?” Now, this is a question that has so many answers depending on who I’m talking to. The worst is when someone who is a complete stranger feels the need to ask me the question.
No joke, I’m sitting at dinner in a winery and across from me is the newest addition to our team. Now this person has been with the company for a long time, but I’ve had absolutely zero interaction with him. However, when someone asked if I wanted to try their drink and I declined based on the whole no drinking thing, he felt the need to start inquiring as to why.
I gave my generic answer of “oh, it was time to just quit,” and proceeded to say how my dad quit, my sisters quit, and I was ready to quit. In reality, in my head, I’m wondering how this person felt that it was okay to ask such a personal question.Â
Imagine giving the true response, “oh, well you see I used to get really drunk almost every night of the week. I’d drink a bottle or two of wine, lots of beer, scotch, vodka, gin, tequila…pretty much anything I could get my hands on that had alcohol in it (with the exception of drinks that tasted like black licorice…I have standards after all). I would go to three different stores to get alcohol so no one would really know how much I drink. Plus i’m usually drinking alone. Also, I drink to suppress all of my feelings…I don’t like dealing with things and this has been my coping mechanism. And let’s not forget how I will be the most drunk when I’m out with people…it doesn’t matter how long I’ve known them or what the event is. I have such a problem saying no to alcohol or even attempting to limit myself. Finally, I can’t forget how it makes my personality completely change.”
Even though I have my variety of responses ready to go, it always seems to catch me off guard when the question inevitably comes up.