Thread: Will me not being a drinker have a negative impact on me?

Interesting thread.

Sad though it is, I reckon that drinking is a fairly fundamental element of mess life for a junior officer. Not drinking might be awkward particularly in the early quiet 'keep your head down' stages of life in the mess and when your peers are having their entry in to a close-knit group lubricated with a beer or ten.

All that said, of course it isn't a huge issue and many will respect you for it.

Just remember that when you get up in the morning, that's probably going to be the best that you feel all day.......................plus you won't have an excuse for that fat bird that you were seen with last night! :D

Thank you all for the answering my question, I feel relieved, knowing there is a positive consensus towards teetotalism.

Dragstrip, I am not a journalist; I am a final year student.

Thanks all

TomTom4600

Originally Posted by Tomtom4600

I completely abstain from drinking. I drank when I turned 18, tried it for a few months and just came to the conclusion that it wasn't for me.

Good Man Tom Tom,

You don't have to drink to be a good soldier/officer

Magic

Just make sure that when at an all ranks do, you get your own drinks from the bar. While most will respect your abstention, there will always be one (officer or soldier) who'll think it's funny to spike your drink. Just the way it is, and probably not that different from civvy street too.

TomTom, can I enquire as to why you think drinking 'wasn't for you for'?

Totally respect your decision mate, and coming through University you must be a lot richer than your flat mates. I don't think not drinking would affect you in the Army either; on the PO's courses there was one guy who wasn't drinking and there was a bit of banter and peer pressure, but eventually it jsut wears off and he was the one laughing at the drunken antics!

TomTom, in messes that I was a member of a few years ago it was De rigueur to down a few pints at lunchtime. By the end of my career lunchtime drinking had largely ceased. But right from the beginning I noted that some people never drank alcohol. Such people were never commented on adversely, unless they were miserable bastards as well as teetotal.

Originally Posted by Exwing

TomTom, can I enquire as to why you think drinking 'wasn't for you for'?

Numerous reasons to be honest and it is kind've long winded. Try and keep it snappy. Only my close friends fully understand why, as they've known me from the beginning.

Everytime I had a drink, I just felt like I was letting myself down. Everytime I had one I always thought to myself 'I am better than this', consciousness I suppose. It wasn't due to health, money, religion or anything like that, I've just never seen the appeal and benefits in drinking. Never cared for it.

TomTom, in my opinion if you were an other rank (right or wrong) it probably would harm you at first until people got to know you, I don't have a clue if it would effect you as an officer.

It should not hold you back, so stick to your guns. You can expect to do Orderly Officer on mess nights though, because everyone knows you will stay sober. If you love your job then of course that will not be a problem. And you will never appear on parade unwashed and smelling of piss and vomit, unlike some of the dirty barrstards you will serve with.

In the 1970s/1980s there was a bit of military law about drinking the Queen's toast - officers could use water or fruit juice, but ORs always had to use alcohol. I don't know if they have changed this.

Isn't/wasn't there a Welsh regiment that required new officers to quaff a yard of ale or something? Best watch out for alcohol-based initiation ceremonies.

Good luck with your career.