I would expect that being seen as a "recovering alcoholic who's done something regrettable" - and hence weak-willed, unreliable, possibly violent, possibly a criminal, etc. - would have negative social effects. Besides, do you really expect that if you don't elaborate, people won't speculate?
However, I find your comment "surprising," would you care to explain your thoughts?
Disclaimer: I don't actually have any experience in the type of situation being discussed. If someone has observations that contradict my hypothesis, then I am most likely wrong (at least with regard to the specific social/cultural setting in which the observations take place.)
If someone's concluded that you're a recovering alcoholic from the statement "I have my reasons," then they will also probably conclude that you're trying hard to change that, considering that you're refusing to drink alcohol right here and now. The main social negative tha...
It's been over a year since I graduated from college, but only recently have I felt like I'm officially entering the "adult world." Navigating the social arenas of the adult world requires the same basic skillsets as the college world, but a lot of the rules are different and I'm struggling to learn them. Among them is how to drink socially.
As a general rule, I don't drink. I don't like the taste of alcohol. I don't like paying the exorbinant prices that alcohol costs. I don't like the feeling of my brain slowing down and making it harder to string sentences together. I don't mind the physical disorientation - that part's pretty fun. But that part also seems to be slightly frowned upon in an "adult" setting. I'm not opposed to it for any particular moral reasons.
When I do drink, I prefer to get it over with as fast as possible, whether I'm officially drinking a "shot" or not. In college that at least had a sort of "daring" quality that was respected. But it's pretty obviously taboo at classy cocktail parties and even somewhat taboo at "casual adult" parties.
So there's a few separate questions I have:
1) Are there any good, cached buzzword phrases I can use that'll make it socially acceptable to not drink? "I just don't like it" seems to draw disdainful stares, and while I haven't tried it I get the sense that saying I'm morally opposed to it would make me look even more like a stick in the mud. Saying "it's ridiculously expensive" makes me look like a cheapskate.
2) If I must drink socially, is there a breakdown of the general social conventions I should be aware of so I don't need to have them pointed out to me over the course of the next few years?
3) Is there any particularly interesting analysis of *why* drinking is so important to social interaction? Knowing the underlying causes might at least give me some better appreciation for why I have to learn this other than "because!"