It hasn’t happened much since college, but maybe I should have been more annoyed when people asked me why I didn’t drink.
After all, I wasn’t asking them “Why is your idea of a good time drinking so much that you’ll possibly make yourself sick tonight and probably feel terrible tomorrow morning … with the extra added attraction of potentially making very poor decisions about who you go home with and what you’ll do once you get there?”
But even though it wasn’t really anybody’s business, I got it … there aren’t many college kids who don’t drink, so I’d answer, and that would usually be the end of it.
Whatever.
To be honest, I find it more annoying now when people ask how I can be a Yankees fan living in Massachusetts, because I do think they actually believe there’s something wrong with me, and even when I explain that I grew up in New York in a family full of Yankees fans … I’m not sure they always get it.
But let’s give the benefit of the doubt and say people are asking because they’re genuinely curious and don’t realize how much it might tick off the person being asked. What are some other questions in that same boat?
The ones I can think of off the top of my head are “When are you going to get engaged/married?” followed by (or maybe not, depending on the relationship) “When are you going to have kids/another kid?”
I used to ask those kind of questions, until people started asking me, and then I realized how annoying it was.
But then again, I’m the same guy who years ago asked a friend who was pregnant with her third child several years after having her second whether it was an accident or planned.
Sure, we had the kind of relationship where I knew she wouldn’t mind, and everyone else at the party wanted to know the same thing but didn’t dare ask … but still … .
(By the way, all of this has been relatively tongue-in-cheek, but here’s a serious story about alcoholism and drug abuse.)
WHAT I WROTE
If I wrote a memoir about a certain part of my life, what would it be about? (I’m also happy to say my post inspired Becky to try her hand at answering the same question.)
STUFF I READ
Austin knows that striving to be perfect can bring unneeded pressure, but it’s still good to get the juices flowing sometimes.
Rosie chooses to love her way.
Writing has always been there for Renata.
Pea Green interviews her children.
Alexia ponders what her children’s lives will be in four years.
Lindsay has had a few rough days lately, but this one seems especially difficult.
Zoe gets angry … just not a particular kind of angry.
Vee encounters someone who has some … odd views about what goes on in Canada.
Michelle tells true tales about people who lie.
Giggles had some interesting visitors.
Paul saw “The Notebook,” and is starting to wonder about how he reacts to sad movies.
Pamela tells the story of a woman who sneaked out to the diner for a milkshake, and got more than she bargained for.
Jamie fell off the fitness wagon, but she’s working to get back on track.
“Recently, there has been such emphasis on the new: a new year, new vaccines, a new administration getting in and sorting out the pandemic. But amid all this I’ve found myself suddenly struggling with impatience and the reality that, yeah, this isn’t ending soon. Now there is just…more waiting, more time lost.”
TWEETS I LIKED
Should you recycle? Use the back side of the paper for notes? It can be difficult.
Because who doesn’t like a nice garden salad with a crisp, cold one?
At least I’m healthy.
Floor hockey
Off the top of my head, I’m not sure I have, either.
I’m a fan.
Me too.
As someone who lives outside of Boston, where the first 10 minutes of the local news was Brady going back to the Super Bowl for a team that’s not the Patriots, I have no idea what she’s talking about.
Not only are any jokes you make about this way too easy, I can pretty much promise they’ve already been done.
I appear to have offended His Majesty. I hope he doesn’t send me to the Tower. I’ve heard bad things happen there.
No such thing exists.
Care to guess her answer?
A Silly Place 
Thanks for sharing, Bill! You’ve posed some really interesting thoughts here, like maybe I should take a stab at writing about not really liking alcohol or not wanting kids. Hmmmmm 🤔
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I also don’t drink. I used to but then realised that I don’t like the taste of it and it’s expensive. I would rather get a sugar high from a milkshake.
Also, when strangers ask me personal questions, I go out of my way to give them answers that will make them uncomfortable. Like, to answer ‘why don’t you drink?’ I say, ‘I’m a recovering alcoholic’. To answer, ‘when are you having kids?’ I say, ‘when I’ve finally given up on life’.
Anyway, that’s just me.
All the best, Michelle (michellesclutterbox.com)
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Oooooo… “When I’ve finally given up on life.” I imagine that brings things to a halt!
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I had a lot of fun writing my memoir post. It brought back some great memories from my time as the manager, and I’m so glad I was able to have that experience. Thanks for inspiring me!
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Glad I could inspire you!
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This was fun! Thanks for sending me this way to your blog by pinging mine. Milkshakes and poetry just might be two things that will help all of us right now! 🙂
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I completely agree, floor hockey was the best!
I also don’t drink and was asked about it a few times in university too. Whenever I mentioned I lived on the non-alcoholic floor in residence, people would always say “Oh that must suck”. Meanwhile, I couldn’t wrap my head around the school allowing alcohol in the first place. Two different mindsets, I guess.
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Yup. Damned be alllll of those questions (and damned be myself for being someone that gets asked all of them regularly…guess I’m a black sheep).
And yay, thanks for the mention!
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I don’t drink either and even in college I barely drank. I never understood people’s obsession with drinking at parties 🙂
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