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Comment by sheetjs | Hacker News Reader

> Almost everyone will at some point ask me why I don't drink, which is fair considering it's engrained into human society.

There should be no need to explain why you don't drink. Period. There's nothing wrong with not drinking and there's nothing weird about not drinking. If people are asking with any sort of condescension, you are probably spending time with the wrong people.

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I don't drink. Most people think it's unusual or weird.

Explain != justify. Not drinking is, for better or worse, fairly unusual (at least in some circles). It's natural to be curious when someone says they don't drink. As long as the questioner is asking out of curiosity and not pre-judgment, I don't see anything wrong with it.

Which is exactly why I respond with "I just don't." To which people usually shrug and move on. Every once in a while I get somebody who is curious or somebody who wants to be an asshole. With the former, I make a joke. With the latter, I change the subject.

That's fine; you've decided that you don't want to talk about it. Other people are fine with talking about it.

It's atypical behavior, and so people are naturally intrigued. Inquiry doesn't necessarily imply judgement, just curiosity.

Judgement abounds, though. Look no further than elsewhere in this comments section.

asking why someone doesn't drink doesn't imply condescension

It is about the context. Given that it probably happens when everyone else is intoxicated slightly, it probably doesn't seem condescending to the person asking, they are just having fun, being warm and friendly but since he doesn't drink they might seem like assholes. See his last point on that.

But it conveys "outsider" status and puts someone on the defensive. Would you like to be asked "Why?" every time you oder a drink?

If someone avoids alcohol there are 4 options: -he dont like it -religion or family tradition -he got sick after it -he is total wanker after few pints and he dont want people to see it

When someone is not ordering alcohol people might think the last one - and that's from the start bad omen.

I fully support people not drinking alcohol but unfortunately I find out that most people dont drink because inner them is coming out.

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