Well, I think it helped me strengthen my will power, that’s for sure.

Also watching people around you get drunk a couple of times early on was quite the turn off. It’s actually rather sad.

Often I am considered to ‘have excellent memory’ compared to my peers (I am 44 now).

There was no religious motivation to start and even though I was Buddhist for a few years I consider myself Atheist now. It was just an early aversion towards the taste and then a heightened sense of peer pressure that didn’t sit well with me. After that it became a game of ‘let’s see how long I can keep it up’. Now it’s second nature - but I do notice there is a deep seated aversion towards alcohol and probably a side effect of conditioning myself against it. That probably goes with all drugs (I don’t take any)

And finally yes, society is very hostile towards sobriety. Less so in the US. People always feel embarrassed and defensive, interestingly enough.

It also turns out to be a great example to people who struggle with alcohol and children, so I am rather happy having stayed away from the rat poison ;-)

Exactly why I didn’t drink. The more my peers tried to pressure me into it, the less I wanted to try it. It was like refusing to join some weird cult.