I don’t drink, I never did. In my twenties I would go out with friends that drunk a lot and had fun all the same. The thing is that I am not shy and I would eng

I don’t drink, I never did. In my twenties I would go out with friends that drunk a lot and had fun all the same. The thing is that I am not shy and I would engage in their drunk shenanigans on their level (while keeping an eye if things weren’t getting out of control, like fights and such). Shouting singing, silly jokes, emotional outbursts, spontaneous decisions to go somewhere, I would always follow their lead empathically. I would put myself in their mood and not make myself as the only “sane and rational” one in the room with superiority. Sure, I was not always in the mood for that, and I would do something else alone or with other people, and I was ok with that. But I when I went out with them for a drink, I knew I would have to be in that mood. I have the impression that in the US it takes some effort to say you are not judging people who drink when you say you do not drink. That you are not putting yourself as not part of their tribe. The peer pressure seems to be higher. For me this came naturally, as we were friends from other environments not only bars. We would all hang out sober as well. If you never ever hang out sober, that might the signal of a problem. A drinking problem for them or a relationship problem for all. If you can’t have a good time at all at moments without alcohol, maybe the friendship is not a good fit for any involved and alcohol is just masking this.