This really speaks to me Tynan. I feel exactly the same. I'm 19 and have always said i will never drink, not for religion or influence, from a young age i just saw what it did to people and thought... 'nah i just won't bother' but at times went through the same dilemma you did, all my friends did it, i was accused of being boring and unsociable, and my girlfriend whom i love more than anything and have been with for almost 4 years began drinking a while ago, and yet i still haven;t had the urge, and have developed a kind of pride in the fact, too. it's disgusting and that's what worries me when my loved ones drink, each one will say 'oh it's disgusting alright but you get used to it'...? i just think... why then do you do it? if it's disgusting but you want to get used to it, then you are just willingly joining the crowds of people who also hate it but 'got used to it'. does this mean the only reason you drink is for the aftermath then? slight typsiness feeling or full blown wasted-ness sensations? i dont understand why people tell me to 'live my life' when i am clearly one of the few people that have actually said 'it is disgusting so what's the point?'. i dont care if people drink, i will never do it but it's nothing that bothers me, the only thing that does affect me is that my girlfriend started a while ago after originally being the same as me, she get's tispy now and then but never goes over that point, but yet it still irks me. it's weird, i know it's because i love her very much, if i didn;t i wouldn't care. gosh sometimes i wonder whether emotionally it's better to just drink he he! but i know i never will. I feel stronger than that! thank you tynan for doing this article, it's made me feel not so weird after all! :)