> Australia is not as bad because of the sport culture. "My personal trainer said no" is acceptable and most places I have work have had a mild to zero drink culture.
That's a pretty specific edge case.
If you're sitting at the pub with friends or work colleagues and you're the only one not drinking, you can expect some irritating comments.
I've learned to deal with it. I've figured out the main reason people push a drink on you is to justify their bad choices (e.g if you're at the pub with Bob and he's sinking 12 pints tonight, he doesn't want a reminder that he's killing his body and will have a terrible hangover in a few hours).
When I tried to stop drinking in college, I used to fill empty beer bottles with water to drink at parties. This helped a lot with social pressure. I reckon one could do the same in a pub if the bartender is understanding and discrete, but I never tried it.
That's a pretty specific edge case.
If you're sitting at the pub with friends or work colleagues and you're the only one not drinking, you can expect some irritating comments.
I've learned to deal with it. I've figured out the main reason people push a drink on you is to justify their bad choices (e.g if you're at the pub with Bob and he's sinking 12 pints tonight, he doesn't want a reminder that he's killing his body and will have a terrible hangover in a few hours).