Pretend drinks

There has been no point in my life in which I've felt compelled to drink alcohol and not for a moment do I feel I'm missing out on anything.

The image below shows me pretending to drink some of my boys' beers while we were having dinner in Verona, Italy; that's the Verona Arena in the background and we were at one of the lovely restaurants across the piazza. I cannot recall why I was pretending to drink the beer, a photo opportunity to send to someone I guess, and the moment soon passed; I do not feel I need to drink alcohol to enjoy myself and, fortunately, neither does my partner and we have a perfectly good time without it; Of course, he'll have a drink now and then and that's ok with me, he knows when to stop.

Last weekend we were at a gathering of friends, a barbeque, and as often is the case people were drinking.

I knew most of the people there but there were a few I didn't and one of them noticed I wasn't drinking. He came over and offered me a drink which I refused. He made some silly comments, which I think he thought were terribly clever and witty (they were not) and re-offered the drink which I refused once again. That's when he began to get obnoxious and I began to get annoyed.

I'm not sure if he was a little intoxicated, not that that's an excuse for being rude, pushy and unmannered, but he pushed the matter a little too far and I began to feel uncomfortable.

Fortunately my man was keeping his eye on me and he came over, interjected and sent the guy on his way; it was all good natured, he wasn't forceful or rude to him, but he was firm and made it clear that it was time for him to move away. The episode left me feeling quite annoyed that I was pushed in that way, made to feel uncomfortable, and all because I refused the alcohol...it's strange to me that those who drink feel it's acceptable to push those who do not.

Usually I carry a drink with me in situations like this, water in a wine glass or a cola with ice in a whiskey tumbler, pretend alcoholic drinks fool people into thinking I'm drinking alcohol and they leave me alone but it's so very strange that the need for such things exist.

I think it's perfectly normal for people not to want to drink alcohol and totally weird for those who do to push it on others.