UKC

I read about when somebody from Right Said Fred met somebody, and commented on how he was reassured to find that he drank alcohol, and how he instinctively didn't trust people who didn't drink.

What's this all about, why do some people not trust non drinkers?

I'm not out to judge, i'm just wondering why people find it weird, or about peoples' experiences.

Cheers
Tim

In reply to Timmd:

not partaking in a societys chemical ritual engenders suspicion amongst the tribe. basic rule of sociology.

i dont trust people who have never done ecstacy.

In reply to Timmd: I've been a non drinker for about 8 years or so and I've never herd anyone say that they would trust me more if I drank

In reply to Timmd:

I suspect it's that teetotalism as a principle seems overly severe and abstemious to most liberally minded folks, who probably think that among the most valuable things in life are 'wine, women and song'. I think it would be terribly sad to have a life without wine, simply because one is too scared and timid (sorry!) about the consequences. The only real issue, surely, is keeping it under control?

Always remember that Churchill, who was a heavy drinker, said: “Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me,” and he lived to the age of 90.

In reply to Timmd:

Personally I don't distrust anyone purely because they don't drink. Buut, is it perhaps that people would assume people don't drink for a reason, and that reason could be due to past experiences of bad consequences of drinking?

That's the only reason I could think of....

In reply to confusicating:

Yes, that is often the sad truth. They were once the most extreme piss artists, and are forced now to drink nothing in order to survive - I can't think just how many times I've come across this, these holier than thou types, who you later learn were once complete drunkards.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Or they could have bad experiences of others' drinking.
Or perhaps it's just not worth the faf of feeling crap the next day...
Or the expense..
But then, those bottom two don't apply to the occasional pint.
(just a couple of other reasons i've just though of)

In reply to Timmd:

Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

I think it would be terribly sad to feel the need to drink to fit in with the rest of society or because I needed to so that I could let go and enjoy my self.
I am tee total and have been since I was 17 (38 now ). I stopped drinking because I did not particularly enjoy it and I am enough of a man not to now to peer pressure.

In reply to Dax H: bow to peer pressure ( bloody small keys on phones )

In reply to Timmd:

I have a friend who drinks only once a week and another friend who doesn't drink. They are two of the fittest people I know. I know that their abstaining is simply an expression of their commitment to being the fittest and healthiest they can be. You can't argue with it because they can run/swim/cycle faster than everyone else/play rugby better and they are the fittest lads on a military excercise.

I trust them becuase they show a lot of self discipline.

In reply to Timmd:
There is an old proverb that goes something like "Beware the man who does not drink. Tomorrow he will remember what we said tonight"
Of course that was before breath tests. Now it preobably says "Embrace the man who does not drink for he can drive you home"

In reply to Timmd:

I don't trust non-drinkers for the same reason I don't trust fascists.

Comprende?

In reply to Dax H:


Bow to beer pressure?

In reply to Wiley Coyote:

I don't drink and I don't drive. I'm not keen on women or singing either...

In reply to Timmd:

only reason i can think of is when out on the piss the non drinker gets lots of blackmail material.

In reply to Timmd: Anyone worrying or even thinking about Right Said Fred is not to be trusted.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:


what a stupid thing for you to say. the effects of heavy drinking are vastly underestimated by most people. everyone has family or friends who have had their lives destroyed by alcoholism.

i suppose you think smoking isn't bad for you because you had a friend who smoked like a chimney and lived till they were 90 as well?

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Some people simply don't like the taste.
Some people don't like the feeling.
I don't like not being able to climb as well or run as fast the next day for an hour or two of chemical pleasure
The costs are high

Why be so judgmental about it - where was the gain? Chill: it's Christmas.

In reply to Craig Geddes:

I really like alcohol, specifically real ale and full bodied red wine, but I definitely don't like the effect of excess alcohol.

I am a pleasant enough drunk, but it kills my fitness and lowers my mood for days if I drink too much, so I try not to.

I tend not to trust people who have a closed mind about life, which might include alcohol consumption, be that unreasoning abstinence or unreasoning excess.

In reply to Timmd:

I can't remember the exact quote but Jim Jeffries said in one of his stand up gigs 'People who don't drink are faackin boring. You know why? Cos every story they tell, you know is going to end with the phrase "...and then I got home."'

Seriously though, I've cut down on my boozing in recent years purely because the hangovers do me in now to the extent that I waste a day recovering, and with two days off a week I don't think it's worth it. Occasionally I will get slaughtered but it's generally if I'm with a certain group of friends that I haven't seen for a while. I wouldn't have a go at someone for giving up booze, but there's something about it that doesn't sit right with me if it's someone who does actually like drinking but can't trust trust themselves to moderate it.

In reply to The New NickB:

Well put.

I drink, but I don't drink much - I hate the sensation of being drunk (because I tend to feel sick before I feel 'drunk'). I don't have a problem with friends who drink, or who don't drink. I found Gordon's comments earlier in the thread somewhat troubling.

In reply to Timmd: The drinker and bon viveur Sir John Falstaff is a symbol of vitality and freedom from all life's seriousness - a great guy despite the flaws. I guess this is why we view non-drinkers with suspicion - unless they have the car keys. Gosh nearly time for lunch already!

In reply to confusicating:

Oops, I thought we were talking about people who don't drink at all. Not people who drink occasionally.
I can think of many reasons people only drink occasionally.

In reply to Timmd:

My grandmother was teetotal. She was born in 1903, and "signed the pledge" in her youth, when, I believe, it was common for the young people of the church to be encouraged to do this. She also spoke of taking part in a campaign to get rid of the pub in the village in Ayrshire she grew up in. My understanding of the ideas behind these views and practices is that because drink can cause damage to the lives of some, it should be got rid of for the greater good. (That's a very crude summary.)

Granny never minded that her children and grandchildren drank, but she didn't like the taste of alcohol and used to object if Mum put so much into the cooking that she could taste it! She could also see the funny side of things - she married a minister, when being the minister's wife was a role in itself, and every year they'd get invited to some posh do at some big house somewhere, and every year Granny would be handed a glass of wine as she arrived. And she was too shy/embarrassed to admit that she didn't drink, so every year she would stand around holding this glass of wine until she got an opportunity to hide it behind a plant!!

(Oh, and Granny lived to be 99. Therefore being teetotal is good for you)

In reply to fimm:

Who else do you not trust?

I'll start: Thin Chefs.

In reply to Timmd:

there is the old saying:

You don't know a man till you know him drunk

In reply to Timmd: I don't drink alcohol at all, simply because I don't like the taste. I don't understand when I'm told "Ah, but it's an acquired taste". Why should I put up with drinking something I clearly don't like, just so that maybe later I'll start to like it and people won't think I'm so odd?

I don't think I've ever encountered a situation where I've not been trusted because I don't drink, but I've had plenty of situations where people clearly think I'm very odd/weird because of it, even some of my immediate family.

In reply to Niall:


Fat Doctors

In reply to Niall:

"Who else do you not trust"?

Women drivers.

In reply to MJ:
God

*I'm not a seppo!

In reply to ice.solo:

I reckon that's it exactly.

It's one of those weird social things that people set so much store by. Someone is rejecting something completely from which you derive much pleasure and - as a social ritual - much importance. There's a french drinking song that sums it up.

Il est de notre, il a bu son verre comme les autres

We know he's one of us cos he drained is glass like the a good ol boy.

In reply to anonymouse: I would love to see someone try to launch a product on the market today that is known to cause birth defects, brain damage, cancer, Liver scirrosis to name but a few side effects.

In reply to MJ:

People who start sentences with "I'm not racist, but...."

In reply to muppetfilter:

The Daily Mail causes all of the above, also brain swelling, obesity and delusions. Medical Fact.

In reply to muppetfilter:

You can imagine the sales pitch...

This new product will slowly remove your inhibitions to the point where you feel there is nothing wrong in smashing a glass in someones face, shouting abuse at policemen, or urinating on a busy high-street.

In reply to Niall:

People who won't answer a straight question.

In reply to anonymouse:

Who? Me? What do you want to know?

In reply to anonymouse: Thankfully you wont be able to get a sustainable erection to service the 18 stone prop forward from Lytham stAnnes womens rugby first team, who you were convinced looks just like Wincey Willis in her prime.

In reply to anonymouse:

But only Stella drinkers. I'm a quiet drunk, I fall asleep.

In reply to Timmd:

some people should drink more.

there are better highs than booze.

i dont trust people who deny they use drugs on some moral high ground, but then drink.

In reply to Niall:
What do you want to know?

Inside leg measurement???

To the OP, I tend to only trust people that have gained mine.

In reply to imkevinmc:
God bless ya. But ask yourself - is the gutter really the best place to do it?

In reply to Timmd:
All this talk of not liking the taste, I thnk they all taste different, some are sweet some are hearty and so on.

And don't worry you don't have to have 10, you can just have 1 and(maybe) enjoy it, if not then oh well.

In reply to Timmd:
Cause people who dont drink wind up reading stuff about right said fred??? Wouldnt care to share a tent with either!

In reply to Timmd:
Hmm imagine this you've had a night out and you get offered a lift back from two friends one is staggering drunk but maintains that helps his concentration. The other is sober as he never drinks anyway. Both are good friends. So whom do you trust to get you home safely?

In reply to Timmd: Climbing is full of anals who dont drink . Goddamnn body nazis often to be found in the suburbs of Sheffield . Cheats and definately not to be trusted .

In reply to Timmd:

Beer is a drink that tastes like sick. Tramps don't buy it because meths tastes better.

In reply to Timmd:
it is all total bollocks.
I just don't trust people who want to be politicians whether they drink or not is immaterial

In reply to Lady Jane Grey:

31", why, are you buying me a pair of Terra pants for Christmas?

In reply to muppetfilter:

I think you find that they launched it by saying that it will make the water safe and drinkable.

The side effect of life is death.

Sugar is just as bad not many people calling for sugar to be banned.

If people fight when they've had a drink it's only because they would fight anyway, the drink just allows them to lose the inhibitions that normally prevent them sooner.

In reply to Timmd: I've given up drinking to the point of being ill. Like others if I've only got 1 day (or sometimes no days off) I don't want to spend it feeling *rap. 4 pints is my limit on a big night out, 2 pints on a quiet evening in/out.

If I go out with the guys from work there is a few of them who don't trust me. I think as was said before it's that you're not joining in. I don;t trust them not to get drunk and start fighting, that's why I stay sober.

It's an age thing once you get past 40 it takes 3 or 4 days to shake off a proper hangover. One that would have lasted until midday when I was 18 or not occur if I was 15.

I'm sure there's some reasearch somewhere that children and young adults don't process alcohol the same way that the over 21s do. Less drunk effect for more and no serious hangover?

In reply to Timmd:

I think taking the word 'trust' from a Right Said fred quote has lost the purpose of the question here, but it is interesting the reaction you get from people when you say you don't drink. Incredulous is part of it!I've never had so much grief as the 6months or so I was teetotal a few years back.

I think it comes to 4 things.
1/ As stated right at the top, it's different from the 'norm' and so it's viewed with suspicion. You bloody outsider you! <shakes pointy stick>
2/ Alcohol is very closely tied in to Fun for most people. Particularly those people who don't really have any hobbies to take up their time (so for once we can actually say "so it may not apply as much to the UKC crew" without sounding completely up our own arses), after a hellish week in a 9-5.30 there is little better than a few pints with your mates and an excuse to forget your concerns for a bit. To spend all week waiting for this release and then see someone deliberately abstaining from it does genuinely baffle some people.
3/ When you ask someone why they don't drink and they start listing medical problems caused by excess drinking it is going to make teetotallers sound very arrogant and piss annoying. This also rubs up some guilt as even the most hardened lager lout knows that they can justify a few pints on a Friday but no one can say it's healthy to down 15pints, several shots and a large kebab. But you try and make a man feel guilty for his one big pleasure of the week and he's going to resent you.
4/ It's reminder that you are doing something that may catch up with you later down the road but that you really don't want to stop doing, and that scares people. So they resent it and you.

Anyway, that's from my study having worked a lot of bars and generally being a nosey barsteward!

Personally I'm quite looking forward to a few beers or a bottle of wine with friends this evening but am well aware of what I can take in without suffering tomorrow so alls good by me! <raises lunchtime tumbler of cheap whisky....only kidding>

In reply to Scarab9: Good post. I like point 2. Worryingly it seems that for a lot of my freinds, wine is their hobby. Many of them seem to train every night on 1/2 a bottle and then do a couple of big 2 bottle events at the weekends.

It seems that people either drink too much and do no exercise or do too much exercise and don't drink. I feel I'm in the minority.

Does anyone else balance it out responsibly?

In reply to Scarab9:

A very interesting post, for me at least, a few things I hadn't thought of.

I used to like drinking red wine with or after a meal as part of a family thing, or getting drunk on beer occasionally with friends, but alcohol in any quantity started making me glum, so I decided it wasn't really worth drinking anymore.

Occasionally i'll have a little bit of wine that's hanging around, if my brain is feeling like it could do with a bit of a change, or i'll have a little bit of champagne at xmas or a special birthday of somebody in the family, but on the whole I don't drink alcohol anymore.

It wasn't what the guy out of Right Said Fred said so much which got me thinking, but what one of the Erics (I think?) who posts on here posted quite a while back, about how it always seemed to be public school types who didn't drink, and then when he got them drunk they turned out to be arseholes.

Reading what the guy out of Right Said Fred made me remember about what one of the Erics posted, so I thought i'd ask and see whatr esponses I got.

It does seem a little bit strange to me to instinctively not connect with non drinkers though, but each to thier own I guess, it's not something to worry about.

Cheers
Tim

In reply to Timmd: Well Tim I dont trust anyone who doesnt tick one of the following boxes. drinking booze, football or shagging (thats shagging anything, men, women, animals, member of your own family, just as long as you liek getting your rocks off to at least something that breathes for godsake) or theres something wrong with you.

In reply to Fawksey:

Wise words. I especially don't trust people who claim not to be interested in shagging.

In reply to Timmd:
>
it always seemed to be public school types who didn't drink, and then when he got them drunk they turned out to be arseholes.


No cheers, what the f*ck are you talking about?! since when did what school you went to define what you were like when you were drunk?!?! Reel it in and take a reality check please.

In reply to ClimberEd:

I'm saying that that's what was posted by somebody on here.

Re-read my post. ()

Tim

In reply to Timmd:

Some people want to be good climbers and know drinking will hold them back.

In reply to Timmd: my theory for what its worth is that non drinkers are in control most of the time,and drinkers after a few arent and they are simply jealous..hang on whilst i have a quick drink

In reply to Timmd:

Ah yes, apologies!!

In reply to Timmd: id be more worried about someone who takes notice of what "right said fred think". surely you could picked a better source on which to base your thread . even if youd made one up!!!!!!!

In reply to Removed User:

Historically that is just so patently untrue.

In reply to Timmd: As Adam Ant said "you don't drink, don't smoke what do you do"...however didn't he go mad and walk into a pub with a gun a few years back...hmm !

In reply to Timmd:

I'm not much of a drinker myself, never have been and never will be... I have found that comment occasionally put on me... I think it's because some people seem to think you're a recovering alcoholic if you're a non-drinker (so what if you are...) or you're some violent/maudlin/depressive type when intoxicated. I guess the bottom line is 'people sometimes don't like what they don't understand'.

The problem with me drinking is if I have too much I actually get too hyper-active and end up jumping off walls thinking I'm a cat (possible fractured back) or falling off wooden beams and knocking myself out. I'm basically too much of a liability.

In reply to glennofsheff:

Why is that?

Is that because one of Right Said Fred is gay?

I trust you're aware of the reacent manslaughter charges against a couple who beat somebody up for being gay?

I think some people on here need to think about what they post, and how it may influence or reinforce what other people think.

Cheers
Tim

In reply to glennofsheff:

I was too polite.

What a narrow mindedly biggoted and ignorantly stupid thing to say.

I was having a nice day untill I logged on just now.

I think you need to go and take a look at yourself.

Tim

In reply to Timmd:

"Is that because one of Right Said Fred is gay"?

Or maybe because they're not known for their intelectual commentry on philosophy...

In reply to Timmd: Take it easy mate, I think he was just having a daft joke, at RSF not being too serious. Go back to having a nice day!

In reply to Timmd: WHAT!!!? who said anything about gay ? think you ve got a bit of an unwritten agenda there. my reason for the first post is that right said fred are S*%T. FACT.pure n simple. (IMHO). nothing to do with their sexuality. so sorry to p*$$ on your lets lynch the gay basher bonfire . maybe some people need to read whats in front of them instead of adding references and implying sentiments neither written nor implied

thanks .
glenn (TOO SEXY FOR HIS SHIRT)

In reply to glennofsheff:

Oh, okay. Sorry. ()