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Comment by cercatrova | Hacker News Reader

I don't share the author's experience of being persuaded to drink. I stopped drinking for a good couple years and every time I went out with friends (edit: or work events with coworkers), no one cared who drank and who didn't. If you just had some sparkling water in hand, or even regular water, no one asked about it.

Aside: In fact, with coworkers I definitely did not drink whatsoever, even when I resumed drinking generally with friends, because I don't know what I might inadvertently blurt out, which might happen with even a couple drinks.

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And any bartender will happily make you something that LOOKs like a drink if you feel you need to keep up appearances (ie fruit juice with garnish, or sparkling water with a lime)

Sparkling water with a lime is a great go-to, just looks like any boring old G&T. Nobody even asks what you're drinking, in my experience, so you don't even have to lie to fit in.

Hydrating, cheap, and tasty. When I'm someplace that doesn't have decent beer on tap (my preferred beverage), that's my go-to. I enjoy the idea that I'm paying ~$5 for a whole night of sparkling limes while others spend many multiples that on a night of crappy mixers.

On a related note… in any place where the tonic comes out of a soda gun, get a gin and soda and not a g&t… Tastes way better than gun tonic. Also no sugar, whereas tonic has quite a bit

> every time I went out with friends

The author isn't talking about going out with friends, he's talking about work events that are centered around alcohol.

I've been to work/professional events where most people have a drink in their hand, whatever that may be. I've never been to a work/professional event that was "centered around alcohol". (My experience is in the tech industry in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and SoCal. I realize this may be different in other cultures.)

If an event is organised in a bar, it is alcohol centred.

That's a very limited view of bars and pubs.

London's pub lunch would like to have a word with you.

I was gobsmacked by the way English people quaff beer at lunchtime.

I went to a lot of pub lunches while I was there. Rarely, if ever, do I remember drinking at a pub lunch. People go because they have fast lunch specials. You go to the same place at night and it's a bar.

Englishmen here - some people have a beer at lunch and some people don't. I usually don't, especially if I have a meeting in the afternoon. I've never seen anyone comment on it either way though. The most that'll happen is if there's just 2 or 3 of you going to the pub for lunch and someone might ask "are you guys drinking?" just to figure out if they want to or not but that's about it.

It always makes me laugh when American's experience this for the first time. It's all across the UK, not just England. It really makes you realise the cultural differences despite speaking the same language. That said, I've never seen anyone put under pressure to drink around work events or lunches, I usually lean towards not drinking myself.

The point still stands. Don't associate with people who have an issue with the choices you make.

Same here, stopped drinking alcohol years ago, switched to non-alcoholic beers. There is a huge choice of them everywhere and local pubs are required by law to have them on offer.

Re social drinking, never felt any peer pressure, not now, not before. "The field where I grow my f*cks is barren". Don't care what others think about it.

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