Soledad's Journal

I mainly don't drink alcohol because I don't like the taste, so I usually say I will have (a little) champagne at weddings. Most of the people who invite me to weddings have been considerate enough to provide something non-alcoholic to drink though and since I usually find that much more to my taste I will drink that. The other reason I am a teetotaller is because in some parts of Sweden, where I am from, the peer pressure to drink -- and often to drink to excess -- can be quite strong and I like to provide a counterpoint to that. My mother always said we weren't allowed to jump in the river just because the other kids did, but if we wanted to jump in the river it was fine to do that even if the other kids didn't. Sadly I think most of my contemporaries did not get this sort of up-bringing, so they need more help to stand up to the peer pressure. Since providing this makes me awkward, I am very happy to do it! :-)