How successful do you think a social life will be with no alcohol?

Day 52

Recently I have been on a mission to incorporate a social life excluding the element of alcohol. The proposition of a social hangout with no alcohol was excellent but emerging the proposition to practice was a whole different animal. The concept of this idea was equivalent to going to Fogo de Chao (Brazilian churrascaria steakhouse) and ordering vegetarian food. With elements like happy hours an average American social hour incorporates alcohol, bars, clubs, etc.

So here is my question: How successful do you think a social life will be with no alcohol?

With an important ingredient of social hour like alcohol being eliminated out of the picture what are chances of having the potential threat of being a social outcast? What is probability of locating friends of sharing the idea of social hour with no alcohol? Does this idea require you to enroll in alcohol free social groups, rather than your old friends? With an honorable decision like eliminating alcohol from the lifestyle to reduce risks like diabetes, obesity, etc. initiates challenges in balancing the social life.

Why is an atmosphere in correlation to alcohol environment such a big part of our social regime? Until I made this commitment to refrain alcohol environments, I had failed to understand that the constituent of alcohol consumed a big part of my social settings. The social contacts and the friend lists had a drastically condensed in size. The social gathering venues had been reduced when the proposition of social hour with no alcohol was executed.

This could be the reason that the US alcohol beverage industry is one of the biggest contributors of the US economy. In a study performed in 2009, it is reported that US alcohol beverage industry contributed 393 billion dollars to the economy (DISCUS, 2009). This could be a reason that the sales taxation increments are always focused on the US alcohol beverage industry with 14 to 25 percent taxation.

"There is a fine line between you drinking alcohol and alcohol drinking you for a social commitment”

~Lenji Jacob

References

Economic Contributions of the Distilled Spirits Industry | DISCUS (2009) Distilled Spirits Council of the United States | DISCUS Retrieved September 22, 2012, from http://www.discus.org/economics/

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