3 ms·

Really? I had no idea Teetotaling was the new in-thing. Welcome, friends! (For me, it was a choice based on my own mental health plus a family history of alcoh

Really? I had no idea Teetotaling was the new in-thing. Welcome, friends! (For me, it was a choice based on my own mental health plus a family history of alcoholism on both sides, but I surely never thought that not drinking would become a popular thing, given how awkward people who drink have historically tried to make it for me, since I choose not to.)

gnicholas 3y ago
Yeah, a couple friends recently told me they're teetotaling now, based on research (sent by another friend) that there is no safe amount of alcohol consumption. I talked with them for a while, but never could determine how exactly researchers had determined that 1-2 drinks/mo, for example, is less healthy than 0.
- dmvdoug 3y ago
  Probably doesn’t help that it seems like nutrition research does 180s every so often on pretty much every reported “finding.” That has probably as much to do with the hype surrounding actual research though, so I don’t necessarily blame the researchers.
hattmall 3y ago
It definitely is, weed, nicotine vaping, and social media addiction are the replacements. Right now, coming off of the pandemic it's trendy. The bar / music scene took a hit and really hasn't yet recovered. Alcohol is the foundation of society though and humans have specifically evolved to be able to process it so the trend will inevitably reverse I'm sure. Honestly as someone who enjoys alcohol and will readily espouse the many benefits, pre-pandemic it had gotten to be a bit much. The whole seltzers, wine-mom, craft beer, bourbon flights etc made it where there was almost nothing you could do that didn't specifically revolve around drinking. I like to drink, but I don't like to feel obligated to drink just to do it. I want to drink and have the alcohol enhance other enjoyable activities. I don't want to drink and just talk about beer. Going to a brewery IMO is about the worst way to spend an afternoon.
- dmvdoug 3y ago
  I never understood the attempts by people to try to pressure me into joining them drinking. Like, I’ve never given a shit if they drink. It’s not some moral quest of mine, like I’m on a 21st century Temperance Crusade. It’s just a personal choice not to. But for some reason it apparently makes (some) people extremely uncomfortable that I am not drinking when they are. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  - hattmall 3y ago
    Do you really not understand? Have you never enjoyed something and wanted to share it with other people? "You have to watch this show!" or "You have to try this new restaurant!". Are you saying those are statements that you can't understand why someone might make? Think if it wasn't just something great, but one of the greatest things ever. An actual cornerstone of human existence and the experience responsible for civilization. One of the few things that clearly separates us from animals. Imagine someone starving themself. Would you encourage, maybe even pressure them to eat more? Perhaps they are eating just enough calories to get by, not starving to death but not doing more than existing, not enjoying the abundance of earth and the fruits of that millions of years of human development have brought us. How comfortable would you feel sitting at the table with them, while you sample a buffet of intricately prepared delicacies from around the world? How much credence would you give to their position that eating more than 1200 calories of rice a day is just their personal choice. It's not the alcohol is the absolute greatest thing ever, but it's close. I can't think of much else that would provoke the backlash that banning alcohol would. There's not much else than you could ban that would create the depleted society we see in areas where alcohol is prohibited (for the peasantry at least).
- vintermann 3y ago
  > Right now, coming off of the pandemic it's trendy. I wish that was right. There's an effort but it doesn't come from us, the traditional teetotallers. It comes from a certain urban marketing professional demographic, and I'm a bit worried that it's for a large part boasting that lies behind it ("Look at me, I'm such a marketing god that I can sell vodka without alcohol!"). Also, despite the marketing superstars, it's not terribly successful. Alcohol free options in even trendy places still signal that "this is an alternative we're legally obliged to offer but we'd rather not".

gnicholas 3y ago

Yeah, a couple friends recently told me they're teetotaling now, based on research (sent by another friend) that there is no safe amount of alcohol consumption. I talked with them for a while, but never could determine how exactly researchers had determined that 1-2 drinks/mo, for example, is less healthy than 0.

dmvdoug 3y ago
Probably doesn’t help that it seems like nutrition research does 180s every so often on pretty much every reported “finding.” That has probably as much to do with the hype surrounding actual research though, so I don’t necessarily blame the researchers.

hattmall 3y ago

It definitely is, weed, nicotine vaping, and social media addiction are the replacements. Right now, coming off of the pandemic it's trendy. The bar / music scene took a hit and really hasn't yet recovered. Alcohol is the foundation of society though and humans have specifically evolved to be able to process it so the trend will inevitably reverse I'm sure. Honestly as someone who enjoys alcohol and will readily espouse the many benefits, pre-pandemic it had gotten to be a bit much. The whole seltzers, wine-mom, craft beer, bourbon flights etc made it where there was almost nothing you could do that didn't specifically revolve around drinking. I like to drink, but I don't like to feel obligated to drink just to do it. I want to drink and have the alcohol enhance other enjoyable activities. I don't want to drink and just talk about beer. Going to a brewery IMO is about the worst way to spend an afternoon.

dmvdoug 3y ago
I never understood the attempts by people to try to pressure me into joining them drinking. Like, I’ve never given a shit if they drink. It’s not some moral quest of mine, like I’m on a 21st century Temperance Crusade. It’s just a personal choice not to. But for some reason it apparently makes (some) people extremely uncomfortable that I am not drinking when they are. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- hattmall 3y ago
  Do you really not understand? Have you never enjoyed something and wanted to share it with other people? "You have to watch this show!" or "You have to try this new restaurant!". Are you saying those are statements that you can't understand why someone might make? Think if it wasn't just something great, but one of the greatest things ever. An actual cornerstone of human existence and the experience responsible for civilization. One of the few things that clearly separates us from animals. Imagine someone starving themself. Would you encourage, maybe even pressure them to eat more? Perhaps they are eating just enough calories to get by, not starving to death but not doing more than existing, not enjoying the abundance of earth and the fruits of that millions of years of human development have brought us. How comfortable would you feel sitting at the table with them, while you sample a buffet of intricately prepared delicacies from around the world? How much credence would you give to their position that eating more than 1200 calories of rice a day is just their personal choice. It's not the alcohol is the absolute greatest thing ever, but it's close. I can't think of much else that would provoke the backlash that banning alcohol would. There's not much else than you could ban that would create the depleted society we see in areas where alcohol is prohibited (for the peasantry at least).
vintermann 3y ago
> Right now, coming off of the pandemic it's trendy. I wish that was right. There's an effort but it doesn't come from us, the traditional teetotallers. It comes from a certain urban marketing professional demographic, and I'm a bit worried that it's for a large part boasting that lies behind it ("Look at me, I'm such a marketing god that I can sell vodka without alcohol!"). Also, despite the marketing superstars, it's not terribly successful. Alcohol free options in even trendy places still signal that "this is an alternative we're legally obliged to offer but we'd rather not".