Over the years I’ve tried to (unsuccessfully) explain to many confused friends why I don’t consume alcohol. Usually, when the question comes up, their immediate assumption is that I abstain for religious reasons. The second assumption is that I am concerned for my health.
Both assumptions are wrong, and I’m quick to point this out. I don’t care much for religion or health. (One of those two things is important, but I always keep telling myself I can change my ways later.)
I certainly do not come at it from a moral standpoint, and I do not spend any energy asking anyone else to go teetotal.
The reason for my sobriety is far simpler: I don’t drink because I don’t like to. I don’t like what it would do to my disposition and behaviour. I don’t like the social ritual. It’s just a choice I’ve made.
For some reason, people find this difficult to believe. I suppose it’s not that surprising, given that I live in a country where alcohol consumption is quite possibly the highest in the region. Set out looking for a male teetotaller in this land and you’d find Waldo first. People are pressured into take up drinking as soon as they join most workplaces, if their friends hadn’t already done it. I have however managed to ward off these social pressures successfully. The misanthropy helps.
Once again, this is not petty moral grandstanding. I do not intend to get on a high horse (pun intended.) It is simply a choice I’ve made.
I can summarise my position thus: I do not consume, because I’m simply uninterested, but I also firmly stand by anyone’s individual right to poison their own bodies.
(This is a segue, but) for the same reason, I’m resolutely for the decriminalisation and regulation of all drugs. Although I have some passing interest in psychedelics, I would not consume — unless I would at some point in the future be adequately convinced of their functional value — but anyone should have the right to access and consume under proper medical supervision. Drug users aren’t criminals.
Besides, it would be utterly hypocritical of me ridicule someone’s alcohol consumption, when I find comfort in indulgences of my own. They just happen to be in different poisons: caffeine, for example, is a favourite of mine. Junk food is a close second. I can’t really make a case for healthy living sans alcohol when my consumption habits are barely healthy, can I?
So, there it is. I’m teetotal not for religious (moral) reasons, nor for health reasons. I just happen to take no interest in it.
The next person to question my poison(s) of choice will receive a link to this blog post.
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