On Mon, 01 Dec 2003 04:01:39 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

I dunno. I've just never been particularly persecuted for not
drinking. Got teased a bit by collegues that were, but nothing not
good-natured.

You *never* drink?

Not alcohol. In fact, when eating out, I usually order water.
Restaurants tend to overcharge for soft drinks and fruit juice. I like
cranberry juice at home; the flavor is good and it's said to be a
natural diuretic.

Not even wine with a meal? Or, perhaps, a little
peppermint Schnapps in your hot cocoa on a cold winter's night?

Never tried wine, or Schnapps. For that matter, I've never tried
coffee, or black tea. Or tobacco.

Just curious, but why not?

I grew up avoiding them, in connection with my religious faith. I also
chose a circle of friends as a teen who avoided all that stuff. Then I
went to a college where all the students agree not to imbibe. It's how
I survived the teenage years without becoming addicted to something.

Today I believe I avoid a world of trouble that way. No addictions to
any social substance are possible, if you never try them. Like you,
alcoholism exists in my family, and I'm far too compulsive in too many
harmless ways, (and one not so harmless in the long run,) to expect it
could never happen to me.

Rob