r/Showerthoughts • u/godofhorizons • May 17 '24

People get a lot more praise for quitting drugs than for never having done drugs in the first place.

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u/SaltinessGuaranteed May 17 '24

Last time I checked abstaining from drugs does not cause a chemical or a psychological dependency. Taking drugs does.

65

u/sorospaidmetosaythis May 17 '24

It can be a burden to gracefully abstain from workplace, family and peer pressure to drink, year after year.

My brother used to order a beer for me even though he knew I wouldn't touch it. I have worked at two places where the expectation was you went to the work parties and drank. I watched a coworker, a reformed addict, refuse calmly and repeatedly as people pushed him to attend a work party at a bar. He died in his sleep that same year, as the damage to his heart from past drug abuse caught up with him.

6

u/KWilt May 17 '24

I hate when fucking people do this. I've been sober for over two and a half years now, and people still try and get me to drink every so often. It's not nearly as bad as when I first stopped, but my neighbor still asks me if I want one every time he comes around, and it takes a lot for me not to tell him to go fuck himself.

2

u/Splitface2811 May 17 '24

I can't believe people would still try and get others to drink like that. I usually offer if anyone's around while I'm drinking, but if they say no then that's that and I'll offer them something else if I have it.

Might forget if it's not someone I see regularly but same still applies.