Anecdotal story ahead: I was at a conference where the keynote speaker was Yukihiro Matsumoto (aka Matz, the creator of the Ruby Programming Language). At the e

Anecdotal story ahead: I was at a conference where the keynote speaker was Yukihiro Matsumoto (aka Matz, the creator of the Ruby Programming Language). At the end of the day there was a open bar and a sort of sit and hack type event. Nothing particularly structured. Just a "hey I am working on this thing, come and pair with me if you would like." Matz was working on MRuby at the time and came in. Of course, being relatively well known in the community everyone wanted to pair with him. A lot of people noticed he did not have an alcoholic drink by him while he was hacking away and continually offered or brought him one trying to get him to join in. Matz, on top of being a well known coder, is also a relatively well known Mormon, meaning he doesn't drink. He would just politely decline. But the people in the room were getting more and more insistent and later rude. Matz finally excused himself to go back to his hotel room. After he left the room filled with discussion around how Matz was judgemental, or how Matz was loosing touch with the Ruby culture. It was sad and disheartening. A lot of us lost a great opportunity to code with a brilliant person because he wouldn't bend to social pressures. I don't drink but I have been in many environments where drinking is acceptable, encouraged, or even required. It's unfortunate. For me, the evidence shows that drinking copious amounts of alcohol is unhealthy, dangerous, and has very little practical value. Additionally, it can separate us as a community. I hope one day the drinking culture of the tech community will exit.