In a recent conversation between myself and a few friends, the topic of drinking came up. Most of my friends, with the exception of me and a few others, do drink. While jokingly calling one kid a "drunk", someone made a point which I feel deserves consideration. It was: "If you drink, you're drunk; if you don't, you're a geek." Why is that? Shouldn't someone have their own choice of whether or not they want to drink, without being called a"drunk" or a "geek"? This is not to say that there are no drunks or geeks out there, but come on, guys, isn't this getting to be a bit extreme?

Personally I don't drink because it tastes gross to me, although I have heard that it is and acquired taste. What I don't understand is why would you drink something that you didn't like the taste of in the beginning? I personally can't see doing that. Also I've heard stories about waking up the next morning with a hangover. Is the feeling so good that you would do it every weekend? That's not what I've heard about it. Maybe it's just me, but who wants to wake up the next day (or even the day after that) feeling and looking like trash?

Now don't get me wrong I'm not trying to put down drinking, but I believe that we non-drinkers do deserve some respect for our decision to remain sober. And the same for us, we should respect your decisions. I'm not commending drinking because I do feel more respect for a non-drinker, but it is up to the individual, and not up to friends, to decide to drink or not. n