Dick Cavett tells about a friend of his who had a problem with drink. Thanks to Bruce Reznick for the referral to this.
As I'm sure I've mentioned here — and as some people refuse to believe — I've never had a drink of alcohol in my life; not unless you count one dose of NyQuil® many decades ago. Never smoked anything, either. I do not fault or look down on those who do these things unless they cause discomfort or harm to others.
When I said that once in a group, someone said, "So you don't mind if friends of yours cause discomfort or harm to themselves?" I replied, "I don't think that's possible. If you cause discomfort or harm to yourself, you probably cause it to others at the same time. You certainly would make your friends and family feel terrible that they didn't do more to stop you from what you did to yourself, even if helping you wasn't humanly possible."
I never really ever had an interest in trying a sip of anything alcoholic. Back in my teen years, my friends who were drinking seemed to be craving a sensation that, as described, held out no appeal to me. It always reminded me of other folks who were trying to get me on roller coasters by saying things like, "Oh, you'll love it! It'll make you feel like your entire stomach is being passed through your nose" or other descriptives that prompted the reaction, "You know…I think I could live my entire life happily without experiencing that." Also, drinking always seemed a bit too adult for a guy like me who is fighting adulthood to this day. If you've ever seen my house, you know: So far, I'm winning.
Anyway, those were my initial reasons for not drinking. Later, when a close loved one was killed by a drunk driver — who actually thought "I wasn't responsible…I was drunk at the time" was a logical alibi — and I witnessed other acts of self- and loved-one destruction, I had more reason to not start. I know folks who enjoy it and who apparently enhance their lives with it and that's fine. Good for them. But like Mr. Cavett says in his article, I don't understand the ones who ruin lives (their own, others') with it.