Reasons young people are choosing sobriety
&gt; Becoming more intentional about one’s relationship with alcohol can only ever be a good thing. “It’s a myth really that you are boring if you’re not drinking,” Misell says. “As anyone who’s ever been sober with a drunk friend will know that when people are drunk, that can be extremely boring too.”<p>Well, yes. I&#x27;ve been working in a bar (and in charge of it) and drunk people are really annoying.<p>I always used to drink myself too for that reason (well, also because I liked to), with specific limits because I still needed to maintain order. I found it&#x27;s actually <i>easier</i> to maintain order while drinking a bit because the interaction with drunk people is more natural and smooth. If you&#x27;re &#x27;dry&#x27; you&#x27;re too strict and only triggering them more. But maybe that&#x27;s just me.<p>Mind you this was in the mid-90s when things weren&#x27;t as strict as they are now. Our bar was a private club and pretty much a dive and we didn&#x27;t obey any noise, closing hours, or maximum occupancy regulations either. If we had a big party I&#x27;d wear a police scanner sometimes to hear them coming so we could turn the music down :P<p>I find bars a bit boring in general these days. No smoking, grumpy security goons everywhere, strict opening hours and drinking limits. Not to mention the closing of bars for almost 2 years. I really do feel for the younger people now. Because back then the going out scene was really important in my life too and later in life these things are different.<p>What the article says about the price increase is a good point though. Our place was extremely cheap and even a round for the whole bar was usually in the range of 20 bucks. These days alcohol is a lot more expensive. However soft drinks are usually in the same price range as beer these days so I don&#x27;t really see how that would stop people from drinking alcohol.<p>FWIW I had several periods in my life with extremely heavy party drinking but I&#x27;ve never got addicted. Every time I was able to just drop it when my circumstances changed and right now I drink only once a month or so. I don&#x27;t regret those periods at all and I wouldn&#x27;t have wanted to miss them. It did help me socialise and stretch my barriers which I really needed as an adolescent. Because I was a lot more shy than I really wanted to be. It was really an invaluable tool to get &#x27;out of my shell&#x27;. Alcohol is not always a bad thing IMO.