> ... and don't expect that I would like 'drunk me'.
Have you ever tried being drunk? I wouldn't recommend it if you're fine the way you are, but OTOH, I think people don't actually understand unless they've tried it.
(I know that's kind of shitty, but ... that's life.)
Really it's just an easy excuse that doesn't need to be true because the fact remains that this person doesn't want to be a person who drinks and most won't question it.
It's also possible they get drunk quite easily.
It should be. But people tend to get real defensive around teetotalers, maybe because many of them are judgy and preachy because they don't drink for religious reasons.
It seems to me that in western cultures, ex-drinkers get a lot more respect than never-drinkers.
I grew up in a small white trash family who lived on an indian reservation. So I had front-row seats to all of the spectacular consequences of alcohol overindulgence, both in my own family and in my community.
Yeah, that certainly tainted my perspective on the pros and cons of drinking.
I'm humble and rational enough to acknowledge that me drinking would probably bring more negatives into my life than positives.