Can confirm. Being the only nondrinket at a party sucks. Everyone becomes a strange kind of boring where the stupidest things entertain them and you just can't see it.

Happens to me a lot because I don't like wine and beer and it seems that in the US people really really don't like to drink spirits socially. Or even to mix their own cocktails.

Sometimes I miss parties with my slavic friends where we go through bottles of gin and vodka and such things. Def don't miss the next day hangover tho :D

And yes it IS a social lubricant. Lowers inhibitions.

Edit: on second thought, maybe avoiding spirits at parties isn't a US thing. Maybe I'm just getting older and people around me no longer enjoy getting smashed