Provoke your friends and see what happens.
For a full autumn, I was on medication that didn’t mix well with alcohol. Since I'm in a band and my friends went pubbing a lot; I didn’t stop going out, however, I was completely sober. The most common scenario was the following:
22:00 - We get there. A and B ask if I’ll have a drink and I say that I’d like an non-alcoholic alternative. No one reacts. Nobody thinks it’s weird.
23:30 - B wonder if I can’t just have one beer. I say no. He’s a little annoyed and goes dancing to a song I’ve never heard. I'm a bit tired.
00:15 - A arrives and asks if I'm ashamed of her for drinking. I say no, get a bit annoyed, then I go urinate. I buy another non-alcoholic drink with orange juice in. I feel rejuvenated.
01:30 - B comes and pushes me and stares me in the eye and says with a slurred voice that I have no right to think that I’m better than someone else just because I don’t drink and he’s sure as hell not out every night but when he is maybe he likes to have a few beers and I’m not to fucking stand in a corner taunting him the entire evening, just because I'm fucking stuck-up.
01:32 - I go home.
Required time:
A full evening / night. About 4 - 6 hours depending on how long you can keep up.
Cost:
Ten euro for drinks, tops. Maybe an entry fee if you go to a club.
Cons:
Your friends might get annoyed and you may start hating people.
Pros:
It is a study in human social structures. You won’t get hung over. You won’t have to spend tens of euros to become dizzy. You train your ability to pick up people even when not drinking, being social even if you haven’t been drinking and having fun even when you’re not drunk which could you come to use at celebrations and places that doesn’t serve alcohol.
