Two things. 1) I don’t think the Cosby Show should be off the air. There is nothing wrong with the show. I think it’s just that the incident is too fresh for people to enjoy watching the show. And in a few years, it will be on the air again if TV reruns are still a thing. I’d say the same thing about Polanski. He’s…

I hate soda. It's the main prob I have at bars now. There is no non-alcoholic drink that I want other than water and coffee. I don't drink juice or anything either. Nice that you can keep beer at home like that. I could never do that.

No one says it is the main reason. I think you are making a bigger deal out of this than it is. I’m going to try again. 1) If you don’t have a drink in your hand and you are in a place where people go to drink and socialize, then people are going to ask you if you’d like a drink. It’s not because they are trying to…

Thanks!

Yes exactly. I have a lot of problems with moderation. The way I cope with this is to make it a little harder for myself to do things. Like, I don’t bring home junk food. My house has only healthy food. My problem is not so extreme that I'll actually go out and buy junk food- just that if it happens to be around me,…

Well I disagree with that entirely. In the first place, it’s about making it easier for the non-drinker by avoiding having to have the same conversation again and again. But as to what you are suggesting, I think it is a valid point of view that if you go to a baseball game, you should do the wave when other people do…

Nonsense. I’m sick of this response. The point is that it is annoying to have the same conversation over and over again. This is not a way to lie or cover up something, it’s simply a way to avoid having people buy you drinks, ask if you'd like a drink or ask why you aren't drinking. If you have a drink in your hand,…

You don't know what is necessary to other people. Everyone I know has lately tried to tell me that it is not necessary for me to quit drinking as, on the outside, I appear that I hold it together very well and am only sometimes a little tedious - usually when others are buzzed anyway. But they can't see the difference…

For some of us, quitting is the only thing you can do. Maybe not forever, but certainly until you have a major lifestyle change - I figure I'll give it a few years before I drink again.

Yes I have friends like that. One of them, every two or three years, will try some new drink and we're all surprised like, "he's drinking?" and then he usually doesn't like it enough to finish it and we don't see a drink in his hand for another two three years. No reason, just doesn't like it. I'm like that with weed…

Yeah, but there is nothing like drinking beer while you grill at the beach or paddle a river, etc. I don't miss drinking at bars or parties either, but when it's hot out and I'm in my canoe and it's late afternoon and I've been in the sun paddling most the day and my body is refreshingly tired, a cold beer on the…

Who said people NEED it to have fun?

Hey, it's a blind date. If drinking is important to someone, they shouldn't date someone who doesn't drink. That's a normal thing to happen on a blind date, except that if she expected you to pay, it was not considerate of her to order an expensive drink.

Funny thing is, I initially quit drinking because I was on antibiotics. I spent ten days sober for that reason. It was probably the first time I’d been sober for ten days in two years. The next week, I drank once, and the week after that, I drank once more. Both times I got really drunk and stayed up too late and said…

Gosh, I'm really sorry you went through that, and sorry that this happened to your brother.

Great distinctions, thanks for that.

Yes, thanks for that. “I was drinking too much." Simple. Thing is, all these people going on about drunk assholes and all- my social group does NOT include drunk assholes. They are all very moderate drinkers who get a little buzz sometimes- nice and interesting people. If anyone was problematic while drinking, it was…

Nowhere did it say to lie. The idea is to stop people from asking you questions or offering you drinks since there is something in your hand. If someone asks anyway, of course you can be honest and say whatever. But the point is that if you have a drink in your hand, no one will ask. Which is nice because it gets old…

Look loads of people are saying this, especially the age thing. What you guys are all missing is that this article is about someone who QUITS drinking- not someone who never really drank. There is a world of difference, and yes, when people are accustomed to you drinking, they will ask why you aren't doing it anymore.…

Love this. I'm inspired now to come up with a dozen or so amusing stories like this and tell them to different people in my social group who ask why I've quit drinking.