What do I say When Someone Gives Me A Drink?
Only 54% of U.S. Adults Drink Alcohol
I’m afraid to tell them no!
It’s “HURRICANE SEASON” as some of my peeps in recovery like to say. Holiday season for the rest of the world. So this question comes up more than normal.
People are always stressing, who are just trying out being dry for a minute or forever. Whether they’re jumping in on NO DRINK NOVEMBER or DRY JANUARY, a lot of people wonder what they’re gonna say to their friends or family when someone gives them a drink. Or when someone asks them why they’re not drinking?
When I got into recovery, I thought about this a lot. First, I hadn’t told anybody that I was getting sober. After decades of being Mr. Party Like A RAWKstar, STEPPIN OUT MAGAZINE, NYC LIMELIGHT promoter, what would they think of me if I told them I’m done? Would they blow me off? Would ghost me?
After I had some serious stability in my recovery, game plans, and talked about it with my recovery circles, I was out at a massive party with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I walked in thinking I would tell them, “I’m not drinking anymore,” with that same Party Like a RAWKstar attitude they’d come to know. I figured they’d ask me a bunch of questions, and I planned a bunch of shit I was gonna tell them. So my boy starts handing out shots and tries to pass one to me. I told him, “I don’t drink anymore”. You wanna know what happened next? NOTHING!!!!! Nothing at all. He didn’t give a shit. He just went to the next person and gave them the shot. He didn’t give a SHIT! NObody does.
“He didn’t give a SHIT!!”
Okay. There are some people so deep in their using and drinking, it’s hard to see people around them not using too. It’s not uncommon in the real world. The OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of the time, people tell you, “Oh WOW! Good for you! I know. I say it all the fucking time now. I wear it as a badge of honor. “I went pro and retired early.” People I just met are happy for me. And if there are people who might give me some shit? They’ve got their own demons to worry about. Just hope they make it to recovery before it’s too late.
Only 54% of Adults in the U.S. Drink!?
This morning I watched a clip from CNBC. They were talking about Jim Beam halting production, and they went into some of the reasons why. They said the number of adults who drink in the U.S. is down to 54%. WHAT!? That’s IT!? I mean, I work in recovery, so I guess I thought everyone else out there was drinking like when I worked in clubs. Guess not.
How can this be REAL? Where are they getting this data from? I looked it up. GALLUP. (2025, Aug 13). U.S. Drinking Rate at New Low as Alcohol Concerns Surge.
It BLEW my mind. Why is it that we are sooooo effing worried about what others are gonna say? Even at my peak, it was only 67%.
So what’s it matter to us?
It’s Okay To Tell People You don’t drink!
“Almost Half The COUNTY Doesn’t Drink!”
You don’t have to be worried about what they’re gonna say. Most of the time, they DO NOT care. We’re just stuck in our own heads. It’s the stories we tell ourselves in our own minds. Our own insecurities. Maybe what WE would have told others because we were so ass deep in our own shit that WE couldn’t bear to have anyone else not doing what we were doing, around us.
And if they DO care, which has not happened to me in 9 years… Ask them, “Why do you care? Almost half the COUNTRY doesn’t drink.”
