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Comment by rayiner | Hacker News Reader

I don't drink soda, and I've never had anyone comment.

Regarding alcohol: I kind of understand the skepticism about people who don't drink. Drinking usually puts you in a more honest, less controlled, and less guarded condition, which makes drinking with other people almost a trust exercise. Not drinking at a pub is kind of like bringing your sword into a gathering where everyone else agreed to leave theirs' at the door.

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That's an excellent analogy. My wife doesn't drink, but we had some of my friends over for board games and some beers. By the end of the night she was quite annoyed and none of us could figure out why. She was annoyed that they were making jokes at my expense. She was mad that I was making jokes at their expense. She thought it was rude. Imagine being in a less trusted social situation than "wife and best friends", maybe a business meeting, where the client wasn't drinking but everyone else was. It's easy to see why there would be a social stigma against the one person who wasn't drinking, just like there would be a stigma against the one person who was if the shoe was on the other foot.

That's an interesting explanation. But I believe it is primarily a group behavior thing. When someone doesn't behave like everybody else, it raises suspicion or can even be seen as offensive.

I'm not drinking for over 6 years just because I can't see pleasure in alcohol intoxication.

All these comments like "you're not respecting social norms" feel kind of offensive. And now this sword straw man.

Sorry, but not drinking simply makes me not drunk. I'm never "more honest" and "less guarded" when I'm drunk (that's why I don't like it - I fight the drunk state of mind every time).

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