Getting Comfortable With (My) Sobriety

Fighting my own subconsciously held beliefs about what it means to be sober, and understanding how my sobriety fits in the recovery community.

When I am at work events, where only a small handful of people know I don’t drink alcohol, I usually order a tonic with lime at the bar. Sometimes the bartender will try to serve my drink in a different glass than they are serving the alcoholic drinks. I ALWAYS decline and ask that they put the tonic in a high ball glass or Collins glass – some sort of “alcoholic drink” glass. When anyone asks me what I am drinking, I say it’s a gin and tonic. Even the people that know I don’t drink will ask me what I am drinking, and I will tell them it’s a gin & tonic, even though we both know that it isn’t.