People sometimes ask if I don’t drink or smoke am I boring? I’ve wondered a lot about this as I’ve never been much into drinking or smoking even when I was younger.
No, you are not boring if you don’t drink or smoke. You might be more enjoyable because you don’t need substances to make you more interesting. Drinking and smoking are often seen as cool, but usually, they have nothing to do with what is boring or not.
If you watch lots of sports, you are used to seeing tons of ads about beer and other alcoholic beverages. While if you are into movies, you will think that smoking is a more prevalent and cool thing than it really is. I’d suggest that movies and sports are giving us the wrong and impression, and instead, people who don’t party are more interesting, let’s explore this more.
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It is Hip to Be Square
When we grow up and gain our independence, we tend to focus on the things that we have been restricted from doing before. I wasn’t ever all that cool, so I didn’t goto a lot of parties as a teenager, but I always used to hear about all the fun people were having.
As an older teenager, my parents let me try alcohol for the first time. I don’t know what happened, but I never fancied drinking all that much.
As I got older, I tried it more often, but far too many times, I got sick and didn’t want to drink ever again. I’ve learned that you don’t need to drink to have a good time.
This was also easier for me as most of my friends weren’t into it so we always had fun without getting drunk.
For this reason, I’d say that not getting drunk or smoking doesn’t make you boring; instead, it makes you more fun. This is because when you don’t have the excuse of alcohol, you have to come up with things that are fun to do.
If a group of people get together and drink, they might talk or do something else, but drinking tends to be a focus, whereas when there is no drinking, something else always has to be the focus of the meeting.
As I mentioned before, I’ve never been much into drinking, but my brother and his friends have always enjoyed it. They used to meet up on the weekends to watch sports and get drunk.
The few times I was there, I found the experience pretty dull, but they all had lots of fun doing it. In retrospect, it becomes a matter of how you use your time and how you make fun for yourself rather than if you are drinking or not.
After graduating from university and trying out working for a while, I decided that I needed to do something different, so I took a job in Korea.
One thing that was surprising to me was the drinking culture there; before going to Korea, I rarely drank, but while I was there is was a weekly experience.
My living in Korea was filled with experiences that changed my perspectives on life, which in some part was fuelled by alcohol.
I had a coworker in the office that I had a crush on; she and I were friends, so we hung out a lot. The thing was, she drank a lot and every time we hung out, we drank soju together.
The good part about going to a restaurant to drink was that the food was terrific, and the alcohol loosened us up, so it was easier to communicate.
But at the same time, we were always drinking, and that wore me out a lot over time. Overall, my experiences with this coworker were fun, but the fact that they always involved alcohol was kind of a downer.
Another friend I had in Korea was from the USA; he wasn’t into drinking at all, so every time we meet, we had interesting conversations and did exploring that we couldn’t have done if we were sitting in a bar.
Together, we didn’t drink or smoke, but we certainly weren’t boring; instead, the freedom from those activities made our time together more fun.
My wife is from Japan, so we have travelled there quite a few times, neither of us drinks, so we always make the most out of doing things out in the world.
A few years ago, I had a coworker who told me about his trip to Japan; he spent every night in clubs and slept away his days. When he told me that, I was blown away; as I couldn’t understand how anyone would find that fun, especially in an unusual place like Japan.
My wife and I didn’t drink or smoke, but we always know how to have fun.
Boring is a relative term, and it’s hard to make generalizations about people and what they consider entertaining, but I’ve always found drinking and smoking to be boring. Instead, the sorts of things done rather than drinking tend to be the more interesting.
It’s Better Not to Drink:
- Drinking is expensive. Going out to a bar and having a drink in my city cost as much as 10 dollars per drink; doing this every night would be costly.
- Hangovers Suck One thing that I remember about drinking was the hangovers, and a day of being tired and feeling sick is not worth a few hours of drinks.
- You Make Fewer Mistakes. Everyone I know has a drunk night story, but often they are filled with bad decisions or people getting hurt. If you want to get a sense of the mistakes people make, look up Hold My Drink on Reddit.
- Alcohol is bad for you. There is a reason why it is called intoxication, cause it is toxic. There isn’t much debate about this.
Drinking and Smoking is Boring
Often, we get along with people because we share something in common, but the things that we have in common might eventually become tedious.
Going out to get a drink with friends can be a good time once in a while, but if it happens every day, it loses its appeal fast.
Repetition is never fun; it doesn’t matter what we are repeating; just the fact that we are doing something over and over again takes away the enjoyment it could have.
People often see people who don’t drink or smoke as boring because it seems like those are fun things to do when you are young and inexperienced.
But once you get over the novelty of doing those things, there is a lot more fun to be had exploring other things.
Do This Instead of Partying:
If you don’t know what other options are out there, it is easy to get sucked into some boring habits. If you are getting pulled into monotonous nights of drinking, here are some suggestions of things you can do instead:
- Play Board Games. It is a funny name for something to do when you are bored, but board games are a great way to spend an evening as a group. Also, as the games require attention, they are sure to keep you occupied.
- Online Classes. I’ve always been into learning, but usually, I do that learning in a free-flowing way without much structure. I’ve recently signed up for an online course, and it has been keeping me busy most nights.
- Reading Books. I used to think books were boring, but now, once I’ve gotten into a novel, it is something I’d rather do over everything else. Reading can take up lots of time if you want it to, however, it also makes you smarter in the process.
- Take Up a Physical Activity. Over the Christmas holidays, I realized I wasn’t taking care of my body, so I took up riding a stationary bike and it is now something I do every day. Having a routine like this might get a little boring, but knowing I need to do it every day, ensures that I always have to make time for it.
I don’t drink or smoke, am I boring? If you have ever thought about this question, then you should now have a pretty good answer.
People who don’t need a substance to make their times fun are more interesting than those who do. Of course, this isn’t to say that you should never drink, but realizing that partying isn’t what makes you interesting is a worthwhile discovery to make if you haven’t done it already.