If you are new to HSM, and don’t feel ready to explain why you’re not drinking when people offer you a drink, the excuse that is easiest to give is that you are in the last 2 days of finishing a course of antibiotics.  That way, you’re not sick, but no-one’s putting pressure on you to drink.

An Alternative Way To Make Friends (Not Involving Alcohol)

When you feel the pressure to drink in social situations, offer to be the designated driver.  That way, everyone in the group is incentivised to keep you sober.

What To Say When People Ask You What To Drink

Ask for soda and lime when people ask what you want to drink.  Universally understood and definitely drinkable.

Beer Allows Men To Be Feminine?

In conversation with an ad planner who works on a multi-million dollar beer account in the US – he raised with me a very interesting theory.  He said: “We see beer not as a masculine thing, but as the means by which males access their feminine side.  Beer allows males to share, to interact, to hug, to talk and offer opinions and to feel less intimidated by social pressures.” I thought this was an interesting take on it.  If beer allows men to access their feminine side, then maybe that needs to be taken into account by people trying to provide social/recreational alternatives to beer in society.

(Not) Drinking With Cowboys

I was so close to breaking.  I flew to Idaho to go to a wedding of a friend.  Lots of cowboys there and drinking from the moment the sun came up.  I knew no-one except my mate and it was the kind of situation made easier by drinking.  I stayed strong though – with the antibiotics excuse in my back pocket (I didn’t have to use it in the end), I stuck to water and then offered to be the DD.  This was a very quick route to making new friends.

Big Nights = Sickness

I’d love to see the statistics linking sickness to big nights.  I know that for me, I often got sick after a big night (flu/tonsilitis).  I wonder the cost of all this extra sickness on our society?  I’m sure there is a strong correlation between binge drinking and mild sickness but no-one ever seems to talk about it.

Surviving the 4th of July

I survived 4th of July in the US (like Australia Day in Oz, lots of BBQs and booze) without a hitch.  In fact, I was stoked to not be drinking because I knew the next morning the streets would be empty and I could ride my bike around in the peace.

Not Counting Down

I’m not sure when HSM ends for me, I’m roughly 2 and a half months in now, but I’m not counting down, in fact, I think I’ll just keep it going until it becomes a burden rather than the blessing it’s been.

HSMers can play drinking games too.  Just substitute alcohol for water.  You’ll be rehydrated, better equipped and avoid being the outcast.

We met some people in Central Park.  I offered them jelly beans.  They offered me watermelon.  ‘As I went to bite, they said – just so you know, it’s spiked with Vodka…’

I dropped it cold.  It never touched my mouth.  But close.

Then, at a restaurant with Jules, she gets a bad glass of wine and says, ‘try this, it’s terrible’.  I lean in to taste… And then remember.  Again, so close.

But I digress.  As many smart people have said to me about HSM – surely abstinence isn’t the point?  Surely it’s about moderation?

And while I agree with them – my comeback is always the same.  Until you abstain, you never realise how easy it is to say yes and how hard it is to say no.

And more importantly, you don’t build up any capacity for refusal.

Six weeks in and saying no is easy.  Asking for soda and lime is natural.

One thing I have noticed is that when you go to restaurants and everyone’s ordering drinks and you’re not, the bill always gets split evenly at the end, meaning I subsidise other people’s drinking.

This is something I think must happens to lots of HSMers.

Not drinking feels very natural now.  I agree with Chris that there’s a huge market opportunity for sophisticated, non-alcoholic social drinks (that aren’t juice, cordial or soft drink).  I think HSMers might be a great source of ideas for what kind of drinks would be best here.

Finally – I have realised something through HSM – as much as I love wine and beer, the best number of drinks for me to have is zero.

This is a personal choice, made for me by me.  But knowing now what my body’s like without, I am confident that ‘without’ is when I’m at my best.

Nick.

Hello Sunday Morning from Nick Crocker on Vimeo.

Australia is defined by its drinking culture.  We drink to watch sport, at BBQs, with dinner and at parties.  The general narrative of teen life from the age of 14-15 onwards is drunkenness.  How drunk did you get and what insane situations did that lead to?  Drunkenness is tied to a bunch of teenage firsts.

Once you hit university, the intensity increases.  Binge drinking amongst university students is standard.  And for lots of people in the workforce, the ‘weekend warrior’ drinking is the high-point of the week.

When I say drinking, I don’t mean European, bottle of wine over dinner and conversation drinking.  I mean pubs and clubs, 13 vodkas, withdraw $250 from an ATM and pass out on your bathroom floor drinking.

I think Australia has a drinking problem.  It’s people’s right to choose how and when they drink.  But I also believe that choice architecture – the way decisions are influenced by how choices are presented – also plays a huge role.  And the social norm that drinking has become skews the choice architecture unnaturally towards getting smashed.

Alcohol has never been a problem for me.  I’ve always enjoyed it.  I have some amazing, blurry memories from all around the world for which I can thank alcohol.  But I do think most people don’t realise the impact alcohol has on them and I’m doing this to start a few conversations about exactly that.

In short, I’m not drinking for 3 months.  I’m already 2 1/2 weeks into that commitment.  I don’t drink a great deal anyway, so this isn’t going to be hard, it’s just going to be sporadically awkward.  I don’t anticipate losing friends, but I’ve already found that I’ve had to explain myself a lot more than I first thought.

In the short space of time I’ve been doing HSM, I’ve turned down 10-15 opportunities to drink and I’ve had a number of conversations with people about their drinking.  I’ve been surprised at how people respond.  It’s amazing to see that basically everyone has a point of view on this topic.  I get a sense that the social norm of drinking could be due for a rethink.

Long-term, I think cold beer and good wine has a healthy role to play in my own life.

For now though, it’s Hello Sunday Morning.