LET'S TALK BEER PRESSURE

When drinking alone is just not enough

It’s funny how choosing not to drink can make people more uncomfortable than actually being drunk. Suddenly, you’re face-to-face with a passionate, self-appointed alcohol ambassador, fighting for your right to sip your Fanta Orange, and still look like a grown-up. Out of nowhere, they start insisting you try their whisky. “Just a sip and you’ll tell me.” They are determined to save you from your ‘childishness’ and lord, are they RELENTLESS! “Then try wine. Wine isn’t alcohol.”

First of all, wine IS alcohol, and some of the worst hangovers have, in fact, been powered by it.

When that doesn’t work, they unleash the next weapon in their arsenal. “Oh, or are you a Christian?” Well, yes, James. But that’s not the point. How about I just don’t drink? Why can’t alcohol drinkers just coexist harmoniously with the juice and soda folks without the need to gain converts?

If you thought Jehovah’s Witnesses were overbearing, you haven’t met the alcohol crusaders. They can’t stand to see anyone sober at a party. They’re also the self-appointed refillers, watching everyone’s glass like hawks to catch it before it’s empty. If you reject their services, they look at you like some uptight villager with a moral superiority complex and no taste buds for the ‘good’ things in life.

What is it about alcohol that makes some of its consumers feel the need to always recruit? Because, let’s be honest, if it’s really that great, you wouldn’t need to campaign for it. Nobody has to force people to like chapati. Nobody pressures others to try samosas. We trust people to discover their greatness on their own.

Now here’s where it gets ironic. Some people who once swore by the goodness of alcohol are now posting “Day 7 alcohol-free” challenges. There’s now an entire movement around quitting or reducing alcohol intake. So, have the soda people been fine all along? If so, why are the recruiters still so persistent?

Here is a possible explanation. In psychology, studies have shown that beer pressure often becomes a reflection of collective discomfort; people trying to normalize their own habits by pulling others into the same pool. It seems that at the root, when people can’t stand your sobriety, it might be less about you and more about them.

So, here’s a thought. If you find yourself always trying to convince people to drink, even when they’ve made it clear that they are fine, maybe that’s not enthusiasm; maybe it’s dependency dressed up as sociability. Because when someone feels the need to make everyone else drink too, it could be their subconscious saying, “Please join me, so I don’t feel bad about my choices.” And maybe that’s when we should check ourselves. Remember, not everyone who drinks has a problem, and not everyone who doesn’t needs a reason.

So, the next time you’re tempted to ask someone, “Why aren’t you drinking?” maybe ask yourself, “Why does it bother me so much that they’re not?” If your drink needs a recruitment drive, maybe it’s not as fun as you think.